


The Long Way Down

by pterawaters



Series: McDanno Husbands AU [1]
Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: AU within an AU, Abandonment, Alcohol, Alternate Reality, Canon-Typical Violence, Dissociation, Don't Ask Don't Tell, Follows Canon, Kidnapping, M/M, Moving In Together, Past Relationship(s), Poisoning, Pre-Series, Prison, Season/Series 01, Season/Series 02, Season/Series 05, Secret Relationship, Sofa Bed Sex, Woke Up Married, drugged, make-up sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-09
Updated: 2015-04-20
Packaged: 2018-03-22 02:21:24
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 27,094
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3711202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pterawaters/pseuds/pterawaters
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was 2004, and when Danny left Jersey on an errand to Boston, he never figured he'd be coming back married to someone who was not the mother of his child. Same-sex married, at that. And of course his husband would disappear the morning after the wedding, only to be found again six years later, in Hawaii.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue: Wedding Bells

**Author's Note:**

  * For [heydoeydoey](https://archiveofourown.org/users/heydoeydoey/gifts).



> This fic came about because of [this prompt](http://eversoveryclever.tumblr.com/post/115865502087/au-where-steve-and-danny-meet-in-massachusetts) by eversoveryclever. I've tried to be as accurate about the timeline and marriage law as possible, so if you see an error, please don't hesitate to let me know. I'm planning on four chapters after this prologue. Rating may change to explicit later on.

_June 2004_

Danny’s fists are clenched so tightly, he’s sure he’s about to bleed, but it’s either that or start punching a building, and all the buildings in sight are brick and mortar, so punching one of them doesn’t seem like the best idea. It’s an unfamiliar city, so Danny’s not exactly sure where he is. He could hail a cab back to his hotel, but the prospect of sitting there, alone, in the dark isn’t very appealing.

Ahead of Danny on the sidewalk, he sees a pair of guys holding hands. Danny thinks they’ve got it all figured out, that there’s got to be less drama in a relationship between two guys. (His mother’s voice tuts at Danny in his head, telling him he might be a tough-guy cop, but he’s not allowed to make those sorts of assumptions. She didn’t raise him that way, thank you very much.) The couple enter an establishment which, from the look of the neon beer signs in the window, has got to be a bar.

Danny walks past, but then thinks that a drink sounds eminently satisfying right now. Besides, he’s always wondered what a gay bar looked like on the inside. It’s the sort of thing he wouldn’t dare in Newark, because he works with some real assholes, but he’s in Boston. No one here knows him. 

Somewhat disappointingly, the bar looks like any other neighborhood bar Danny’s ever visited. There’s a replay of Wednesday's Red Sox game on the television at the far end of the bar. There’s a few same-sex couples, but mostly there’s either single people, or straight couples. Danny notices the group of big, rowdy men at the big table in the back, and keeps some of his attention on them as he approaches the bar and sits on one of the stools.

Five minutes later, he’s got a (surprisingly expensive) beer in his hand, he’s watching the game, and he’s munching on the bowl of peanuts the bartender pushed at him with a wink. She looks too much like Rachel for Danny to even think about flirting back. 

A guy (tall, about Danny’s age if he had to guess), leans over the bar between Danny and the guy three stools down, whistling at the bartender to get her attention. He rattles off an order and then turns to Danny, with a smile that’s too charming for anyone’s good. “C’mon, man. It’s a good night! No reason to look so bummed!”

The guy looks back at the big group, nodding at someone over there before returning his attention to Danny, obviously awaiting an answer. Danny sighs and leans away from the guy to get a better look at him. “What, uh. What are we celebrating?”

“Shore leave,” he replies, pointing to the bicep tattoo peeking out from under his short sleeve. Danny can’t make out anything about the tattoo in the dark lighting, other than it’s definitely there. “Team’s got a whole week stateside before we ship out again.”

“A whole week?” Danny asks, not bothering to hide his sarcasm. While he has to admit he’s been a big fan of tracking down the people responsible for 9/11, he’s starting to have some concerns about how much of his paycheck is going to fund a war that’s already three years old and going nowhere. “What’re you, marines?”

The guy’s eyes go wide and he scoffs. “ _Navy_!” Danny wonders if he’s about to get punched over not telepathically guessing what branch of the military this guy belongs to. Instead, the guy brags, “SEALs, actually.”

“Congratulations,” Danny replies, tipping his beer toward the guy and turning his attention back toward the game. 

The guy gathers the drinks he’s ordered from the bartender and brings them back to his friends. Danny thinks that’s the end of the conversation, but it hasn’t been ten minutes when the Navy SEAL is back in the seat next to Danny, longneck in his hand. “No,” he says without preamble. “I gotta know what’s getting you down, man.”

“How about that’s none of your business?” Danny asks, though he has to admit, he’s a little happy for the company. Someone _wants_ to talk to him for a change.

Mr. SEAL nods like he understands. “Ah. Girlfriend trouble.”

Danny doesn’t want him to be right, even though he is. He remembers the couple from earlier, and on a whim, says, “Maybe it’s boyfriend trouble. Ever think about that?”

Eyes wide again SEAL does a little pout and says, “Okay, alright. Poor assumption noted.” He smiles and sticks out his hand. “Lieutenant Steven Mc—” The rest of the name is drowned out by a loud cheer from the Navy SEAL contingent in the corner. 

Danny doesn’t ask Lieutenant Steven to repeat his last name. It doesn’t matter. He takes the guy’s hand and shakes it. “Officer Danny Williams.”

“ _Officer_?” Steven replies, rocking back on his bar stool with a grin. “Police?”

“Mm,” Danny says with a nod, finishing the last of his beer. 

Before Danny can say his goodbyes and beg off, Steven gestures to the bartender again. “I’d like to buy my policeman friend a drink.” Steven looks at Danny and gestures at the bartender, nodding encouragingly. “What d’you want?”

Danny tries to order another beer (because really, what’s the harm?) but Steven orders him a shot of tequila instead. Danny raises an eyebrow when two shots are placed in front of them. "Really, Steven?"

"Steve, please," he says, holding up his shot like a challenge. "Bottoms up, Danny!"

Seriously debating if getting shit-faced with a stranger is a good idea or not, Danny shrugs. It's not like his night could get much worse. "Bottoms up!"

~*~

When Danny wakes up in his hotel room, it's morning. And also Tuesday. He's supposed to ride back to Newark with the witness on Tuesday. The main problem is this: what happened to Sunday and Monday?

Danny vaguely remembers Saturday, and going to that bar, and meeting Steve. Then there were shots, and then ...

There had been some really fantastic sex, like all day on Sunday. Monday had been...

Danny sits up, his head swimming. There. There's a piece of paper on the desk. It's damaged, like it was dropped in a mud puddle and run over. Danny gets out of bed and picks up the paper. Just like he thought, it says, "Certificate of Marriage," at the top, and Danny's name is on it under "Spouse 2". "Spouse 1" is listed as "St–" with the rest of the name illegible due to a wet tear in the paper. It's dated the day before and signed by a justice, as well as a witness. 

Danny has a husband. What the fuck? Danny has a _husband_. It makes no sense. Why would he ever agree to this? The sex can't have been _that_ good. 

And where is this husband, anyway? The bathroom's empty, and the only stray item (besides the marriage certificate) is a black bow tie hanging over the lamp in the corner. Steve wore it when they got married. 

Fuck, that's still weird to think. Danny is _married_.

Danny's cell phone rings and the tinny warble feels like a spike driving into his brain. Caller ID says it's Rachel. Danny presses the green button and says, "I told you, I can't give you your stuff back until Thursday. I'm not even in town until tonight. Remember?"

"Danny," Rachel says, and she sounds like she's been crying. 

Oh, God. Somebody's dead. It's his dad, isn't it? "What happened?"

"Daniel, I'm pregnant." 

The enormity of what she's said makes Danny's heart freeze for a few seconds longer than is strictly comfortable. "Oh, my god."

"Look," Rachel says, sniffling on her end of the connection. "I know I broke up with you the other day, but I was thinking maybe we could..."

"Yes!" Danny says, the marriage certificate making his hand feel like it's burning. He drops it back on the table. "Yes, let's give it another shot!"

"Oh, thank you," Rachel replies, heaving a heavy sigh. They say their goodbyes, because Danny really does have a job to do here in town, but he promises to come talk to her late that night.

Danny finds a hand-written note tucked in his jacket pocket. He unfolds it and scoffs, reading it to himself.

_Danny_ ,  
_Sorry to run out on you. I'm shipping out this morning, back to the Middle East. I won't be able to contact you without endangering my position with the Navy, so I guess this is goodbye. It's been great._  
_Love,_  
_Steve_

"It's been _great_?" Danny says out loud, slapping down Steve's letter on top of the marriage certificate. "Way to make a guy feel loved, Steve."

Not that it matters. Danny's having a baby with Rachel. He's going to marry her as soon as he can get this farce of a marriage annulled. First, of course, he has to get cleaned up and get enough caffeine in his system so he can drive four hours with a witness and a marshal back to Jersey. 

~*~

Danny finds out that it's impossible to get a gay divorce in a state that doesn't recognize gay marriage. It's also impossible to get married again, if you're not divorced. Thirdly, when Danny gets an undamaged copy of his marriage license from Massachusetts, and runs the name Steven Warwick, it's most definitely an alias. There's no way in hell to serve divorce papers to an alias, even if Danny did somehow establish residency in Boston long enough to be able to file there. 

Danny keeps all of this from Rachel, insisting that he wants to be with her and their daughter, he just can't quite get married yet. After four years and no marriage, Rachel leaves Danny for good.

Danny's been out of the house for five months when Rachel tells him Grace is going to have a stepfather. He's been out of the house two years when Rachel announces she's moving Grace to Hawaii. Danny tries to petition the court to make Rachel and Stan stay, but the judge doesn't like the fact that Danny refused to marry Rachel, and thinks he should have fewer parental rights because of it. 

If Danny ever meets Steve Mc-Whatever again, he's going to shoot that fucker right in the face for ruining his life so thoroughly. 

Six years after getting married, Danny moves to Hawaii.


	2. Reunions are a bitch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Danny pulls up to the McGarrett crime scene, not eager to see the spatter of blood on the walls and floor again, but needing to retrace the scene to get his head around it. It's his first high-profile case since transferring to Honolulu PD Homicide, and he knows cracking the case is his best shot at proving himself to the rest of the department.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some of the dialogue is lifted from the S1E1 transcript, because why mess with perfection?

_September 2010_

Danny pulls up to the McGarrett crime scene, not eager to see the spatter of blood on the walls and floor again, but needing to retrace the scene to get his head around it. It's his first high-profile case since transferring to Honolulu PD Homicide, and he knows cracking the case is his best shot at proving himself to the rest of the department. Most everyone in the building still calls him _haole_ , even though he's not nearly the only white cop on the force. 

Maybe if he cracks this case, if he finds the man who killed this retired cop (who Danny never knew, which is why he's on the case, despite his lack of seniority), Danny's colleagues will finally care to learn his name.

There's a rental car in the driveway, which wasn't there when the scene was processed, and some of the crime scene tape has been disturbed. Sure that he's about to lose some crucial evidence, Danny pulls his gun and keeps it pointed down as he enters the house. Holding his breath, he hears movement coming from the garage. 

The door between the garage and the house is open, and Danny hears a tinny voice, like someone on speaker phone. As he tiptoes into the driveway, gun raised, he sees a man standing next to the workbench, a tape recorder in his hand. 

Okay, this ends now.

Danny calls out to the man, "You! Hands up! Don't move!"

Instead of putting his hands up, the guy draws a gun lightning-fast and levels it at Danny. He doesn't start shooting right away, so Danny focuses on his face. It's a face that's haunted him for over six years. "You!"

"Who are you?" Steve asks, the asshole. Clearly, he's had better things to do than obsess over being married to a stranger, if he doesn't remember Danny's face. Then Steve pulls an odd expression, "Do I know you?"

Danny lowers his weapon, shaking his head. "'Do I know you?' he asks. You'd better fucking know me. I'm your husband."

Steve drops his gun, eyes going wide. "Danny?"

"Yeah, hi," Danny says, holstering his gun and taking a few steps toward Steve. "I want a divorce."

"What?" Steve asks, licking his lips and looking Danny up and down briefly, like he has the audacity to start remembering the weekend they spent together.

"Also, get the hell out of my crime scene. You're contaminating the evidence. What are you even doing here?"

Steve holsters his weapon and says, "This is my father's house."

Well, shit. It dawns on Danny that Steve's actual last name must be McGarrett. If only he'd known this fact six and a half years ago. "Listen, I'm really sorry about your father, but you can't be here right now."

Ignoring Danny's direct order, Steve says, "But, that marriage license wasn't valid. That wasn't my real name."

"You built a damn good alias, Steven," Danny says, crossing his arms over his chest. "And you swore it was your name in front of a Judge and a Notary. As far as every level of bureaucracy is concerned, I'm a married man. Massachusetts won't let me declare you dead until 2012."

Steve stands there with his mouth opening an of closing for a few seconds before he says, "I am so sorry, man. I thought they'd just annul it when I disappeared."

"Oh, you did, huh?" Danny takes a few steps closer to Steve. "Thought you could just marry a guy for fun and then disappear of the face of the planet?" Danny tries his best not to telegraph the punch, and then throws it. Danny's fist lands squarely on Steve's left cheekbone.

When Steve recovers from the sucker punch, he gives Danny a betrayed look, to which Danny simply says, "Oh, you had that coming, my friend. That was a long time coming. You'd better be grateful I stopped at just one punch."

With a chuckle, Steve rubs his face and says, "I forgot how cute you are when you're mad."

"I'm gonna commit a homicide," Danny says, more to himself than to Steve. He clenches his fists tightly so his hands don't wind themselves around Steve's neck and start squeezing. "I'm gonna commit a homicide, and then I'll be free to marry whatever scumbag I hook up with in prison."

"No, no. C'mon," Steve says holding up his hands placatingly. "Wouldn't you rather help me solve my father's murder?"

"Help _you_?" Danny asks, putting his hands on his hips and leaning forward, like hearing better will make Steve's insanity any more plausible. "I don't know where you get off think the Navy has any sort of jurisdiction here. _I_ have jurisdiction. _You_ are a family member, who needs to stay far, far aw–"

Steve holds up one finger and pulls out his phone, dialing and then saying, "Yeah, Governor Jameson, please. Tell her it's Steve McGarrett." "What are you doing?" Danny asks, mentally calculating how much force it's gonna take to bring down this guy if Danny needs to arrest him. Danny might need to pull off a running tackle.

Without answering Danny's question, Steve puts his phone on speaker. A woman's voice says, "Commander, Governor Jameson here. What can I do for you?"

Danny doesn't believe this. The dude's got the freaking Governor on speed dial. There's no way this doesn't end in Danny getting railroaded off this case. Steve puts the phone back to his ear and now he's talking about taking some job and reciting an oath. Fantastic. Just, really great. 

"Thank you," Steve says, shutting off his phone. He turns to Danny and grins. "Now it's my crime scene."

And Danny–Danny is so fucked because that grin Steve's giving him does something to him that he's not willing to admit is still there, after all these years. The feeling is too overwhelming on top of having his case taken away, and suddenly the garage feels smaller, and Danny has to get out of there. He murmurs something like, "Whatever, asshole," in Steve's direction and leaves the house the way he came. 

As Danny drives away from the crime scene, he prays to God that he never sees Steven McGarrett again in his life.

~*~

Of course that doesn't happen. Danny is just looking at a stack of take-out menus, trying to decide what to have for dinner, where there's a knock at the door. Danny sighs and goes to answer the door. It's Steve.

"What are you doing here?" Danny asks, crossing his arms over his chest. "Don't you have more crime scenes to steal?"

Steve holds up a six-pack of beer and a plastic bag full of what smells like Thai food. "Hi, honey. I'm home."

"You're six years late," Danny says, but he's tired and hungry, so he grabs the beer from Steve and vacates the doorway, letting Steve come in and close the door behind him. 

"Would you give me a break?" Steve says, his eyes scanning over Danny's lackluster apartment. "I'm trying to apologize, here."

Danny sets the beer down on the breakfast bar and takes out a bottle, grabbing the opener from its place next to the wall. "What I don't get," Danny says, pointing his beer at Steve, "is why when you _abandoned_ me, you couldn't at least give me your phone number or a PO box or _anything_."

Steve sets the food down next to the beer and picks up the bottle opener. "Don't Ask Don't Tell," he says, cracking open his own bottle and taking a sip. "Anyone in the higher-ups gets confirmation I'm not straight, bam. No career, no pension, seventeen years of my life down the drain."

"Then why get married?" Danny asks, sitting down on the still-folded-out sofa bed. "Why make it official when we could've just had a wild weekend and called it good?"

Steve shrugs, his gaze a thousand-yard stare through the floor. Danny doesn't think he's going to get an answer, but then Steve speaks up. "I remember you talking about how you wanted to get married, but only to the right person." He sighs. "I guess I wanted to be the right person for a couple hours."

Danny doesn't know how to respond to that. Steve sits in the chair across the room, leaning back and closing his eyes, like admitting this last fact exhausted him. 

Danny wonders when the funeral is, or was. He should've made a note of it before handing his files over to his Captain. With the way Steve brought over beer and food, it certainly seems like he's low on friends, like he needs Danny.

Danny wants to shoot himself in the foot for being such a bleeding heart, but he still says, "Wanna turn on a movie?"

Steve looks at Danny for a moment before a slight smile plays across his face. "Sure." As Danny rummages in his sheets for the remote, Steve reaches out for the picture on Danny's bookcase. "Niece?"

"No," Danny says as he finds the remote. "She's, uh. She's mine."

"Ah," Steve says, putting the picture back, at just the right angle. "What's her name?"

"Grace," Danny says, standing and heading for the food. "She's five."

Steve nods, looking around the apartment again. "I take it you and her mother are..."

"Very off again," Danny replies, taking out the first carton and opening it. "She didn't, um, take too kindly to the fact I couldn't make an honest woman out of her. Married some douche instead and moved Gracie out here."

Steve pauses, his beer halfway to his lips, then he lowers it. "Jesus, Danny. I'm sorry."

It's all ancient history, so Danny makes a flippant gesture and opens the second carton. There he finds a dish he likes better than the first. He takes a plastic fork from the takeout bag and turns, saying, "I guess you're just gonna have to make it up to me."

"Yeah," Steve says with a rakish smile. "I guess so."

Danny knows he's in trouble. It makes the hair on the back of his neck stand on end, and yet he can't bring himself to throw Steve out. He puts on some action movie about spies and Steve lights up, sitting next to Danny with his own box of food and a grin. He knocks his knee against Danny's and it feels more comfortable than it should.

Halfway through dinner, Grace calls. Danny takes the call over in the kitchen area, conscious of the fact that Steve can hear what he's saying. Whatever. Danny gets to hear Grace's voice and all about her day at kindergarten. When he's hanging up, Danny says his usual, "Danno loves you."

When Danny sits back on the bed to finish watching the movie, Steve gives him a look.

"What?" Danny asks.

"Danno?" Steve's stupid grin makes Danny's face flush.

Danny punches Steve's arm, saying, "Watch the movie, jackass."

"Okay, okay," Steve replies, but when Danny sneaks a look at him a moment later, he's still got that smile on his face.

When they're done eating, Steve leans over and kisses Danny. "This is such a bad idea," Danny says, but he kisses Steve back anyway. 

Danny hasn't been with anyone since he and Rachel broke up over two years ago. It's nice to touch someone again, to kiss with a purpose and press Steve back into the pillows on his bed. Danny doesn't remember much about his time with Steve, but he quickly relearns why he must've agreed to get married. Steve is attentive and _thorough_. God, is he thorough. 

"Danny," Steve whispers, and it sounds like he's breaking.

~*~

Danny wakes up slowly, the sunlight in his eyes telling him he's forgotten to close the blackout curtains again. For once, he's not as pissed about this turn of events as usual. _Oh, right_. 

The other side of the sofa bed is empty, but obviously slept in, and Danny's sure Steve left in the middle of the night. Again. The noise of the toilet flushing tells Danny otherwise. 

Danny sits up in bed, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and trying to tame his bed head before Steve sees him. Steve plods into the room in bare feet and boxers, his face dark with stubble. When he sees Danny awake, Steve smiles, climbing back into bed and pressing a kiss to Danny's shoulder. "Mornin'."

"Hey," Danny replies, searching out Steve's mouth with his own. Steve tastes like Danny's toothpaste. "Did you just use my toothbrush without asking?"

Steve laughs, shaking his head. "Used my finger." He kisses Danny again, pressing his tongue deep into Danny's mouth. "Taste good?"

A happy giggle escapes Danny's mouth and he decides to throw Steve down onto his back and straddle his hips. "Ah!" Steve complains, shifting a few inches before settling and putting his hands on Danny's hips. "Next time, we're spending the night at my place. No sofa bed."

"Oh, you think there's going to be a next time, huh?" Danny asks, pressing his hands down on Steve's shoulders and leaning in for another kiss. 

Almost like it's effortless, Steve breaks Danny's hold and flips them over. Danny groans when his shoulders hit the support bar through the padding. "Ouch." Steve smirks and ducks down to suck against Danny's neck. Danny groans again.

Letting up, Steve murmurs, "Of course there's going to be a next time. Apparently, I've got six years of marital duties to catch up on."

Danny laughs again and gets free of Steve's hold enough to lick his hand, and get it between them and on Steve's already-hard cock. "Then lets get going, huh?"

"Yep, yeah," Steve says, breathless and rutting into Danny's hand. "That's good, Danny."

Danny rubs his cock against Steve's hip and abs, and it's a little dry for comfort, but Danny doesn't really care. He just wants to get off with Steve. On Steve. Hell, in Steve if he's up for it. Kissing Steve quickly, Danny asks, "After I jerk you off, will you go down on me?"

"Yeah, sure," Steve says with a bright smile, which he buries in Danny's shoulder. 

Danny wets his hand again, pulling nice and slow on Steve's cock. "Once we pick up some supplies, can I fuck you?"

"Hnng," Steve says, nodding. "Just– just a little faster, Danny." 

Danny's pretty sure he's going to pay for this later, but he doesn't follow Steve's instruction. He squeezes just a fraction harder, but slows the movement of his hand, nice and slick over Steve's cock. 

Steve hisses, "Danny, I swear I will kill you if you keep doing that."

"Oh, you want me to stop?" Danny asks, taking his hand away. 

"Danny!" Steve's face is this hilarious mixture of turned on and furious. 

Danny laughs. "Don't worry, babe," he says, giving his hand one last lick and starting back at a faster pace. "I got you."

Steve comes with a grunt, collapsing heavily on Danny's shorter frame. "Oh, my god."

Danny accepts Steve's weight (only wheezing a little) and wraps his arms around Steve. "I got you."

~*~

“Hey,” Steve says, pulling his shirt on over his head. “You know you can’t tell anyone about this, right?”

Danny’s so blindsided he barely feels the kiss Steve places on his lips. When Steve breaks the kiss, Danny asks, “Can’t tell anyone about this? Steve, it’s twenty-fucking-ten.”

“I’m still in the Navy, Danny,” Steve says, his face suddenly serious. “Until Don’t Ask Don’t Tell gets repealed, there’s nothing I can do.”

Danny knows this argument. It’s the same one he’s been living with since he woke up with his name on a marriage certificate and no husband to be found. That being said, it’s not like Danny wants to have a big coming-out party or anything. He doesn’t even know how he’s going to explain this to Grace. 

Sighing, Danny says, “Well, I suppose we can be discreet.” Danny feels a little sick, saying it, because he knows that for the most part, he’s doing it out of fear that Steve might disappear for another six years if he doesn't. 

Steve takes Danny’s head in his hands, meeting Danny’s eyes so deeply it almost hurts. “Thank you.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Danny says, ducking out of Steve’s grip. “Ya dope.”

Steve grins.

“C’mon, get out of here,” Danny says, heading back to the hallway closet where he’s got most of his clothes. “You’ve got a murder to solve.”

Steve doesn’t leave. He follows Danny into the hallway and leans against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest like he knows how good he looks doing it. “ _We’ve_ got a murder to solve.”

“We?” Danny suddenly wishes he was wearing at least underwear for this conversation. “What the hell do you mean, ‘we’? You stole my case.”

“I talked to your captain yesterday.” Steve uncrosses his arms and reaches for Danny, pulling him in again. Danny kind of hates how easily he goes. “He said you requested a warrant on this guy, Doran. C’mon, I need your help. Gimme the scoop, be my backup.”

Danny eyes Steve suspiciously. “Are you just doing this, bringing me back on the case, so I won’t be mad at you?”

“No!” Steve cries with a scoff, setting his hands on Danny’s shoulders. “Danny. I need someone from HPD. You’re it. Executive decision. Sorry, you’ve got no choice.”

Danny raises an eyebrow at Steve. “I’ve got no choice? So what was all this?” Danny gestures back to the living area, and the bed out there. “You seducing me into compliance?”

With a laugh, Steve asks, “Are you this suspicious all the time?”

The only answer Danny gives is a glare. 

Rolling his eyes, Steve gestures back the same way as Danny. “ _This_ was reconnecting with an old friend. That’s it. I swear.” Steve holds up his right hand, putting his left to his chest. Danny thinks Steve must’ve been a Boy Scout, and he hates how endearing he finds that.

“Fine,” Danny says with a sigh. “I’ll meet you at HPD in an hour.”

“Awesome,” Steve says, swooping in to kiss Danny again. The kiss is short, but very thorough, and when Steve pulls back, he says, “We’re gonna get along great.”

“Oh, yeah. I’m sure,” Danny says, but Steve’s already heading out the door, leaving Danny standing there naked and bewildered.

~*~

Steve goes barreling into gunfights the same way he barreled into Danny’s life. Predictably, it’s Danny who gets hurt. Again. Sure, the bullet only grazes Danny’s arm, and falling through the window is more a function of Danny’s shock at being shot at with a machine gun than the force of the bullet. But Steve still should’ve waited for backup. 

“Our best lead is dead,” Danny says, looking down at the body. He frowns at Steve. “This is all your fault, you know.”

“You’re a very pessimistic man,” Steve says, but his usual humor is lacking from the dig. “And how is this my fault? You’re the one who shot him.”

“You’re welcome,” Danny replies, not sure if he wants to slug Steve, or fuck him so hard they’ll both feel it the next day. “He was about to kill you!”

Steve clenches his jaw, but doesn’t reply, heading back toward the car. Danny’s car, which Steve insisted they take, because his rental car's insurance doesn't cover "everything". Danny's not even sure _his_ insurance covers "everything", but he doesn't tell that to Steve. 

“Where are we going now?” Danny asks as he starts the engine and tries not to wince too much at the wound in his arm.

“We're visiting an old friend of my dad’s,” Steve says. He puts his hand over Danny's on the shifter, stopping Danny from putting it into gear. “I’m sorry you got shot.”

“Well,” Danny replies, his fury at Steve fading away under the pressure of Steve’s damn puppy eyes. “Thank you for the apology. Noted. Acceptance is still pending.”

Steve smiles and asks, “And if I make it up to you?”

Danny shivers at the memory of Steve's mouth around his cock. "That–" he says, pulling out of the parking spot. "That is the best idea you've had all morning."

Danny's dirty thoughts are interrupted and thoroughly squelched when Rachel calls him and puts Grace on the line. "Hey, Monkey!"

"Hi, Danno," she says, her high voice enthusiastic. "Are you picking me up after school today?"

Shit. "Yeah, Monkey. That's the plan. Not sure if I'm gonna make it." Danny leaves out the part about already being shot today, and it's not even 9 am. "I'll see you soon, though, okay?"

"Okay," she says, her little voice so disappointed, it's breaking Danny's heart. 

"Okay," Danny says, clearing his throat. "Danno loves you."

"Love you too, Danno."

When Danny hangs up, Steve is giving him a look. "What?" Danny asks.

"Nothing," Steve says, but as he faces forward again, he's smirking.

Danny sighs. He doubts Steve is going to let this go too long without an explanation, even if he is just sitting over there, silently. Saying nothing whatsoever.

Danny cracks. "Okay. Gracie was three, she'd try to say my name, and all she could say was Danno. That's all that came out. Danno. Okay?"

Steve nods. "That's it?"

"That's it." Danny sighs, adjusting his grip on the steering wheel.

Steve snickers. "It's cute."

"Shut up." Danny throws a half-hearted smack in Steve's direction while keeping his eyes mostly on the road.

Steve defends himself easily. "What? I'm not allowed to think it's cute?"

"No," Danny says, but he's smiling despite himself, so he's sure the message isn't getting across as intended. "It's between me and my daughter."

"Alright," Steve says, but Danny's sure he sees Steve mouthing, "Danno," to himself once or twice as they finish their drive. 

~*~

The rest of the day is full of recruiting two more task force members, running an undercover op, and then boarding a Chinese freighter without clearance, or even back up.

Danny does not, does _not_ enjoy the way Steve keeps putting the two of them in jeopardy of serious bodily harm. Before Steve came along, getting shot at was a thing that had happened to Danny maybe once or twice a year (more often in Jersey). Today, Danny has been shot at on two different occasions _today_.

Danny's not sure how he's supposed to provide cover with Steve running after Hesse, jumping from one shipping container to the next, but he does his best. Danny also might possibly find himself more than a little pleased when he swipes a machine gun off of one of the dead guys and uses it to take out another. No one will be able to deny that it was a sweet-ass move.

Except maybe for Steve, who's engaged in Kung-fu-movie level hand-to-hand with Hesse. Danny shoots the last henchman in the leg, hurrying forward to disarm the guy. He looks up just in time to see Hesse roundhouse kick Steve off the shipping crate and onto the hood of a truck. Shit.

Danny kicks away the henchman's gun and has to sidestep to get line of sight on Hesse. He puts one in Hesse's torso, just as Steve starts shooting again, adding two more bullets to Danny's one. Hesse falls from the container and into the water. 

Danny eases his finger away from his trigger and puts on the safety, stowing his gun so he can restrain the henchman who's still alive. Taking a deep breath, he lets it out slowly. Working with Steve is going to give Danny a heart attack. He's sure of it. Danny's going to fall in love with him and then Steve's going to get himself killed. What is Danny going to do then?

Steve calls down to Danny, "Get the Coast Guard to find that body," like he's paranoid Hesse isn't actually dead, even with three bullets in his chest and water in his lungs. 

Sitting on his perp, because the guy is seriously squirmy, Danny calls back, "What d'you want me to do with this guy?"

Steve gets this really self-amused smirk on his face and shouts back, "Book 'im, Danno!"

"What did I tell you about that?" Danny cries, but God help him, he finds Steve's grin more endearing than annoying. This is going to be a thing now, isn't it?

~*~

Danny's officially transferred to the state police, and to the Governor's task force. HQ is a mess of unassembled furniture and still-boxed equipment. On the bright side, Danny has his own office now, which means he might be a little glad Steve McGarrett ended up back in his life. 

Danny had kind of hoped he'd see Steve the night before, but according to the text he sent, Steve was at the hospital late, getting his arm patched up. Steve walks into HQ with a sling on his arm and a deep gash on his brow. Walking into Danny's jumble of an office, Steve says, "Hey," and sets a little envelope that says "Kahala Hotel" down on Danny's desk.

Danny picks it up, feeling the keycards inside. "What's this?" He looks around at the workers assembling furniture and thinks this is very not discreet of Steve, if he's expecting people not to find out. 

"Gracie's coming over this weekend, right?" Steve smiles softly, looking almost fond. Danny's stomach flip-flops in response. 

"Yeah," Danny replies.

"So, I hear this place has a pool, you can swim with the dolphins." Steve gestures toward Danny with his good arm. "Just take it."

Danny wants nothing more than to circle around his desk and pull Steve's face down to his so he can thank Steve properly. But he doesn't do that. Danny can't do that here, and it's killing him. 

Steve turns away, but Danny doesn't want to see him go. He calls out, "Hey," and Steve stops, looking back at Danny. Danny wants to thank him, wants to ask Steve when Danny gets to see him again, wants to confess these conflicted, but very fond feelings he's having. Instead, he says, "You look, uh– You look really bad."

Steve laughs, dipping his gaze down like he's embarrassed. The gesture makes Danny smile. "And, thank you," Danny says, holding up the hotel keys. "For this. Thanks."

Holding Danny's gaze for a long moment, Steve smiles and says, "You're welcome." And then Steve's off, overseeing the rest of the task force, and Danny feels a little bit like he can't breathe, but he doesn't even mind.

~*~

Danny's sitting in a deck chair, watching Grace splash around in the kids' wading pool when a shadow falls over him. He looks up to see Steve standing there, a manila folder in his hand. "Hey, Danny."

"Oh, no," Danny says, eyeing the folder warily. "Don't tell me we've got a case. I've only got Grace for six more hours."

Steve laughs and crouches down next to Danny, holding the folder out to him. "It's not a case."

Danny glances over to make sure Grace is still okay before he takes the folder. When he opens it, the top of the first page says in big, bold letters, _**Notice of Void Marriage Declaration**_. "What?" Danny asks, seeing his name a third of the way down the page.

Steve smiles, saying, "Apparently a judge caught wind of the fact that Steven Warwick never actually existed, and agreed to nullify the marriage license."

Danny gapes, unsure of how to feel about this. "We're not husbands anymore?"

"Well, technically we never were," Steve says, tapping the paper. "But that doesn't mean you can't come by my place tonight, after you drop Grace off." Steve winks, which should look ridiculous, but somehow isn't.

"You–" Danny says, ignoring Steve's invitation before checking on Grace again. He sighs. Now he's going to end up owing Steve McGarrett favors, which can't be a good thing. "How much trouble did you go through to get this?"

Steve shrugs, bumping the back of his hand against Danny's knee. "Just called up a friend. Don't worry about it."

Danny suddenly realizes what's going on, and makes him smile. This isn't quite about owing favors. Not the normal kind, anyway. "I know what you're doing."

Eyebrows raising up and eyes going wide, Steve asks, "Oh, really? What's that?"

Leaning closer to Steve, Danny says in a low voice, "You're trying to get on my good side, so I keep having sex with you."

Pressing his lips together, Steve nods and breaks into a full-blown smile. "Yeah, yep. I might be doing that."

" "Ha!" Danny laughs. "I knew it!"

Before Steve can say anything else, Danny hears Grace calling out, "Danno!" and he's on high alert, kicking himself for not paying attention to her. She's okay, though, very carefully _not_ running near the pool as she hurries toward him. "Danno!"

"Gracie." Danny sets aside the folder and stands up to meet Grace halfway. He scoops her up into his arms and onto his hip, even though she's soaked through from playing in the water. When Danny turns, Steve's also standing, his hands clasped together in front of his body, like he's not sure what to do with them. Danny chuckles and says to his daughter, "Grace, this is my friend Steve. We work together."

Grace presses her cheek against Danny's shoulder and looks at Steve. "You're a policeman, too?"

"Yeah," Steve says, reaching up and scratching his temple with one finger. "Well, not really. It's complicated."

"Steve's a policeman too, Monkey," Danny assures her. "Now how 'bout we get you dried off and go get some ice cream, huh? Send you back to your mom's house full of sugar."

Grace pulls back far enough to give Danny her biggest, brightest smile. "Really?"

"Yeah, sure," Danny replies, setting Grace back down on her feet and taking her hand in his. He picks up the manila folder (like hell is he losing this piece of paper now that he has it), and says to Steve, "You comin' for ice cream, or what?"

Steve fumbles over his words for a second before nodding. "Uh, yeah. Sure. That's something that we could do."

"Good." Danny says. He's eager to see how Grace and Steve interact. If his relationship with Steve is ever going to last, much less be public, Steve's going to have to prove he can get along with Grace. She's too important to Danny for it to go any other way.


	3. Want You By My Side

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve and Danny fight over who and when to tell about their relationship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title from Stolen Dance by Milky Chance. Posted early by popular demand :D

_November 2010_

Steve's arguing with Kamekona over the quality of wood Kamekona supplied, when he notices Danny let himself back in the house after going home to change. "Hey," Steve says, practically having to bite his tongue so he doesn't add, "baby," onto the end of that greeting.

Sure, he and Danny escalated from zero to married six years ago, and again two months ago, but Steve never thought having to keep his relationship between the two of them would be as hard as it is. He was Naval Intelligence, and still is a SEAL. Steve's used to keeping secrets. 

He's just not too fond of what this one's doing to Danny. 

Danny frowns up at Steve, the angle steeper than usual because Steve's standing a few rungs up on a ladder. "What's the matter with you, huh?" Danny's hands only move that widely and that quickly when he's pissed. 

Besides kicking Danny out before Kamekona came by, Steve doesn't know what he's done wrong. Choosing his words carefully, Steve asks, "What do you mean?"

"What do–" Danny huffs, hands landing on his hips, though his voice hasn't reached a pitch much past mildly annoyed. "I been calling you like you owe me money. We've got a situation."

They work out that Steve didn't get Danny's calls because Kamekona's been sitting on his phone, and once Kamekona leaves (with Steve's phone still in hand, because no way is Steve going to use that phone again), Danny follows Steve up into the bedroom. "Just gimme a minute to get showered off," Steve tells Danny, picking up the watch Danny left on his side of the bed and handing it to him. "Get me caught up while I'm in there?"

Danny takes the watch with a nod of thanks. "I'll come see the show, but I don't want to shout over the water. My voice is wrecked enough as it is."

"Yeah?" Steve asks, proud of his work. He swaggers over to Danny and puts his hands on Danny's hips. Danny smiles, but it's the tight one that means he's only trying to be happy for Steve's sake. "What? What's going on?" Steve asks. 

Shaking his head, Danny pats Steve's chest with one hand. "Nothing. Just … Rachel. Getting on my nerves again."

Giving Danny a quick kiss on the temple, Steve pulls back and heads for the bathroom. He asks over his shoulder, "You have another shouting match with her this morning?"

"No, actually," Danny says, following Steve into the bathroom and watching him strip. Steve smiles. He likes being watched. " _Email_. The lawyers think it'll keep us from getting each other worked up if we only communicate with email."

Steve turns on the shower and looks back at Danny. "You hate email."

" _I_ know that. _You_ know that." Danny huffs, . "Even _Rachel_ knows that, but the lawyers think they know everything, so…"

"C'mere," Steve says, holding his arms open for Danny. Danny steps into them and lets Steve hug him. "Don't worry about Rachel. Let's focus on the case, instead."

Danny nods and takes a deep breath. As he backs away, he says, "You, uh. You smell really, truly, awful." He laughs.

"Yeah?" Steve asks, grinning at Danny. "Who's fault is that?"

"Just get in the shower, babe." Danny pushes Steve toward the running water. "I'm gonna go make more coffee. Today is not a one cup sort of day."

~*~

The case leads them to Rachel's house and within five minutes of meeting Danny's ex, Steve is fairly certain she knows the extent of his and Danny's relationship. It's nothing she says, but Steve notices her watching the way he and Danny move in tandem to get their surveillance equipment set up. Her face does this quick flash of understanding, and Steve knows they've been made. Steve doesn't say anything to Danny about it, unsure of how Danny will react to the knowledge.

When Rachel leaves to allow them to work, Danny points at Rachel and Stan's bed. "This is obscene. Who needs a bed this big? It's overcompensation."

Steve looks over at Danny, not sure how deep he wants to prod into Danny's emotional state. He's not quite sure what he'll find. Steve knows he's a big part of the reason Danny and Rachel didn't work out, and he's not big on the idea of reminding Danny about that right now.

Instead, Steve says, "If we weren't working, I'd say we should try it out. See if we want one."

An evil smile flits across Danny's face until his face falls suddenly. He points at Steve and says, "No! What are you, the rudest person on the planet? You don't do that to someone else's bed!"

"Just a suggestion," Steve says with a shrug. "I mean, we've already ruled out your bed, on injury risk alone. Couple thousand dollars, we could squeeze something that size into the house."

Danny gapes and Steve grins at him to show he's joking. Steve loves his dad's house, but the bedrooms are fairly small, especially compared to a room like this. 

"Jerk," Danny says with a chuckle, reaching over to pinch Steve's side. "Like I'd even want to buy a bed with you."

Danny's sarcasm is colored by the sincerity in his eyes and Steve has to look away. Steve has never been in a relationship this intense for this long. He and Danny barely knew each other before getting married back in Boston. Steve knows the only reason he put a false name on the marriage certificate was because he couldn't imagine his life if he got kicked out of the Navy. Otherwise, he would've gladly married Danny there and then.

That was before the majority of Steve's time in the SEALs, and before his father's death. Now, Steve knows he wants to keep Danny in his life, he's just not sure how wise it is for him to make another commitment like that. 

Steve will take movie nights and dinners and beers and long nights in bed, as long as Danny's willing to give them. 

Steve wants to kiss Danny, wants to remind himself that along with everything bad Steve has found in Hawaii since his return home, he's also found something good enough to stick around for. Steve almost goes for it, too, except he hears Rachel's footsteps heading back in their direction. Steve bites his lip and tries to focus on what the triathletes in the next house are up to.

When Rachel and Danny come back into the house after Rachel's distraction gives Danny an escape route, there's this look between them. Steve sees what they must've been like when they were in love. A sharp jealous pain rips through Steve's chest and he stomps down on it hard. With the way Rachel's looking at Danny, like she wants him back in her life, Steve thinks maybe he was wrong about Rachel guessing his true relationship with Danny. And why shouldn't she look at Danny like that? He and Rachel have a daughter together. There's no way Steve can compete. 

God, does Steve want to, though. He wants to go over there and kiss Danny _hard_ , but he knows it's a petty thought. Steve is better than petty. He'll be the bigger man here. If Danny decides to go back to his family, Steve's going to let him, no matter how much it's going to hurt.

~*~

_December 2010_

Steve and Danny are still together at Christmas. Danny hasn't talked about Rachel at all, save mentioning her name in relation to when and where Danny needs to pick up Grace and drop her off. Steve can't help thinking that it's coming anyway. It's coming, and Steve doesn't want that other shoe to drop, not when seeing Danny in one of his Navy shirts makes Steve's heart feel so calm and at home.

It kind of sucks.

"Hey, look at this," Danny says, angling his computer over toward Steve as they sit on Steve's couch, sort-of watching _It's a Wonderful Life_.

Steve takes the computer and reads the headline. "Don't Ask Don't Tell Repealed." The article is dated the week before, and Steve doesn't know how he missed this. "Is this real?" Steve asks, looking over at Danny.

"Yeah," Danny says, practically jumping on top of Steve with a goofy grin on his face. "It's real, baby. Obama signed the law and everything."

Steve awkwardly scrolls down with one hand, his other wrapped around Danny. Like he thought, it's not that easy. "Won't go into effect for at least 60 days, if not longer."

"Yeah, but it's going into effect," Danny says. "What's the Navy gonna do? Fire you for a month?"

"Two months," Steve corrects him. "And we've been together since September. What's another two months of keeping this to ourselves?"

"What's another two months?" Danny pulls out of Steve's arm and stands up. "For starters, I fly out to visit my family _tomorrow_. My sisters are going to try to set me up with any unmarried friend they have. It's going to be five days of absolute horribleness."

"Horribleness?" Steve asks, trying not to laugh at Danny's choice of words, because this is a serious discussion. 

"Yes," Danny says emphatically. He looks about ready to punch Steve until he takes a deep breath and lets it out through his nose. "At least let me tell my parents, Steve. This, you and me?" Danny points back and forth between them. "This is a big deal in my life. Maybe it's not in yours–"

Steve stands up, holding his arms open as he takes two steps toward Danny. "It is! This is a big deal!"

Danny cries, "Then let me tell my folks!" 

"Danny," Steve says regretfully, reaching out for him, but Danny turns on his heel. 

"I can't sleep here tonight," he says as he gathers his things. "I'll see you when I get back from Jersey."

Steve's desperate to stop this, but he doesn't know what to say. Steve can't let Danny tell anyone. Someone will spill, will say the wrong thing to the wrong person, and Steve's entire Navy career will be ruined because Steve couldn't suck it up and get it together for just two more months. One last time, Steve calls out, "Danny!"

Danny slams the door behind him, and a few seconds later, the Camaro's engine rips away through the night.

Steve picks up the beer he started at the beginning of the movie and takes a long pull. "Merry fucking Christmas to me."

~*~

In the morning, Steve tries calling Danny, hoping to catch him before he gets on the plane back to Jersey. It rings twice before Steve's call goes to voicemail. Shit.

"Danny. Call me, okay?" Steve sighs. "I'm sorry. And..." There are other words on the tip of Steve's tongue, but he doesn't say them. "Just let me know when you land, so I know you're safe."

Steve goes for a swim. Steve eats breakfast mechanically, he washes up after himself, he reorganizes his kitchen, he tinkers with his dad's car. Near the end of the day, Steve gets a text.

It's from Danny, and it says, _I still don't want to talk to you._

At least Steve knows Danny's plane didn't crash. That doesn't mean he's not contemplating his life without Steve and with someone else. God, Steve wishes Danny would just pick up the damn phone! 

The next morning, Steve calls again. This time it goes straight to voicemail. "Hey, Danny. Just checking in. Seeing if you're ready to talk. I _am_ sorry."

Steve doesn't know what to do with himself when Danny isn't around. He's used to Danny not staying at his house during the nights Danny's got Grace, but those times always have a fixed endpoint. Now, Steve doesn't know how long this silence from Danny is going to continue. 

More than once, the sickening thought that Danny might never talk to him again crosses Steve's mind. He knows he was able to railroad Danny into helping with his father's murder case, but if Danny decides to, he could probably get transferred back to HPD Homicide. Steve would only ever get to see him in passing.

Steve goes to the gym and punches the bag until he doesn't feel like he might cry anymore. He curses policy and all the times he's been on the wrong side of it.

Steve understands certain policies. He likes order. He likes efficiency. 

This has nothing to do with order or efficiency.

When Steve enrolled at Annapolis, he thought he was straight. During high school, he'd had a bunch of girlfriends. It never even occurred to Steve that boys _were_ an option. During Steve's fourth class and third class years, he didn't have much contact with the outside world, and was too busy with classes and training to think about even a _girlfriend_.

Everything changed during Steve's last year at Annapolis, his first class year. Steve and his buddy, Roger, left campus for the weekend to go drinking in Baltimore. They went to a club, and eventually Roger disappeared with some girl that he'd just met. 

Steve struck up a conversation with this one guy at the bar, Tom, after noticing his tattoo. They moved further away from the music and under one of the wall sconces so Steve could see it better. Steve was thinking about getting something after his first year of service and he really liked how this guy's biceps looked with some ink on them.

"You keep touching my arm like that," Tom said, "And I'm gonna start thinking you like me."

Steve was feeling bold, and tipsy, so he made a joke. "Maybe I do. Maybe I'm putting the moves on you."

Tom kissed Steve then, and Steve had been neglecting his libido for so long that he didn't question it. Tom pulled Steve into the bathroom and into a stall, and Steve was grateful he thought to keep a condom in his pocket when he went out that night because he put it on before letting Tom suck his dick and it was fantastic. 

After Steve and Tom went their separate ways, Roger found him. On the walk back to their hotel, Roger said, "Look, man. I don't care, but you'd better not let anyone else catch you doing that. You'll get kicked out."

Steve's face flushed hot with embarrassment and he said, "Don't worry. It was just a one-time thing."

The Navy was too important to him, so Steve never got caught again. He made sure his affairs with women were visible enough to hide the ones he had with men.

Even the weekend Steve hooked up with Danny in Boston, he convinced his friends that Danny's girlfriend had a friend and he'd spent the weekend with her. The wedding was a new addition to Steve's pattern and he put that aspect of it out of his mind for years, until he met Danny again and realized why he'd been avoiding thinking about it. 

Steve thinks he's been infatuated with Danny since he first laid eyes on him. 

Danny doesn't text back after any of Steve's other apology voicemails. 

Steve goes surfing and tries not to count the hours as they drain slowly by.

~*~

"Come on, Danny," Steve says into Danny's voicemail. He knows Danny's refusing his call yet again, because Danny's plane doesn't take off for another three hours. "I'm sorry. I've said it a million times already. Just call me back. Please."

Chin clears his throat at the doorway, announcing his presence. Caught almost red-handed, Steve hangs up the phone and slips it into his pocket. "Hey, Chin. What's up?"

Nodding at Steve, Chin asks, "Trouble in paradise?"

Terrifyingly, Steve thinks Chin has his relationship with Danny figured out. Trying not to dig the hole any deeper, just in case he's wrong, Steve crosses his arms over his chest and asks Chin, "What can I do for you?"

Chin looks a little taken aback by Steve's abruptness. "Just a few reports for you to sign." He sets a stack of folders on Steve's desk, and then gives Steve a long look.

"What?" Steve asks, still unsure how much Chin knows.

Chin shoves his hands in his pockets and asks, "Danny's flying back today, isn't he?"

"Tonight, last I heard," Steve says, and that makes Chin narrow his eyes at Steve, so Steve does the first thing he can think of and comes up with a lie. "I insulted the Jets before Danny left. He hasn't talked to me since."

Chin's face lights up with understanding and he nods. "Ah! Say no more."

If only it was just a fight about football, everything would eventually work out. As it is, Steve isn't sure how his relationship with Danny's going to continue. Maybe Danny will come back and never speak to Steve outside of work again and Steve will have to spend every day just _looking_ at Danny and wishing things were different. It certainly doesn't seem like Danny's about to forgive Steve, even though it's a situation over which Steve has absolutely no control. 

Why can't Danny see it that way?

What if Danny told his parents about Steve? What if he told his parents he broke up with Steve? What if Danny let his family set him up with someone? What if he likes that person more than he likes Steve? What if he decides to go back to Rachel?

Steve spends an unfulfilling day at work and goes home alone. He eats dinner alone, and stares at the beach alone, and goes to bed alone, one arm wrapped around a pillow instead of around Danny.

~*~

When Steve wakes up to a noise downstairs, at first he thinks it's Danny, letting himself into the house with his key. Except the footsteps don't sound like Danny's. Steve knows the cadence of Danny's rhythms like the back of his hand, and Danny doesn't move around the house in the middle of the night like that. 

Heart beating so fast it hurts and mind instantly alert, Steve grabs his gun from the nightstand drawer and makes his way downstairs. Someone is trying to take Dad's toolbox!

There's a fight and Steve thinks he's got the upper hand, but then there's a fiery pain in Steve's neck. As everything goes dark, Steve wonders if he's dying. Getting shot doesn't normally feel like this.

Steve wakes up on the living room floor. The sun's coming up and Dad's toolbox is gone. Steve winces at the pain in his neck and goes upstairs to get his phone. His first instinct is to call Danny, but Danny probably isn't going to answer. Steve calls Chin.

Danny shows up to the house two minutes after Chin and Kono, giving Steve a long look before heading for the kitchen. Steve aches to tell the others to go away to he can talk to Danny, but this is bigger than Steve and Danny. Dad's toolbox is gone, along with all the evidence it contained. Steve has to get it back. He has to find out who killed his mother. 

As Kono starts to point out places for HPD to dust for prints, Steve tells her, "Don't bother. They're not going to find anything. They wore gloves."

Danny comes back into the room with a baggie full of ice and something in his mouth.

Kono asks, "What are you eating?"

"Nothing," Danny replies. Steve guesses it's one of the chocolates Danny stashed in his freezer a few months ago and won't let Steve touch, on pain of death. Danny holds out the bag. "Ice for your head."

Steve doesn't know how to feel about Danny being incommunicado for the past week, and now suddenly taking care of him. He waves away the ice. "I'm fine."

Danny gives Steve a frown, one hand on his hip while the other holds the ice closer to Steve. "Don't be a tough guy, okay?" Danny says and he gives Steve those eyes that Steve is just helpless against. "I've been popped with a stun gun before. It's no fun. Ice helps."

Steve takes the ice, putting it on the burn mark from the stun gun. He wants to thank Danny, but Danny's already turned away from him. Steve wants to grab Danny and shake him for being so stubborn, but he's not going to do that. As much as it bothers Steve sometimes, Danny's allowed to make his own decisions.

Kono asks Danny, "You've been stun gunned?" She's got this smirk on her face like she would've liked to be there when it happened.

Danny gives her a look. "Yes, I've been stunned. Hoboken Halloween '02." Danny turns and meets Steve's eyes, the slight twitch at the edge of Danny's lips reminding Steve of when Danny told him about that incident. Danny says to Kono, "It's a long story I don't want to tell you right now."

During the conversation about how the burglars got into the house, Danny says, "Wasn't the alarm system armed? I know it works. I helped you install it. I mean, I don't want to be a nag, but I did tell you you've got to set it _every_ night." Danny huffs.

Steve fights back a smile, because even though Danny's yelling at him, it's much, much better than total silence. "I set the alarm, okay?" Steve remembers putting in the code before he went up to bed and layed there alone for at least an hour before he fell asleep. "They made a clean entry. They didn't trip the sensors. I don't understand."

Chin comes into the room, telling them about how the burglars deactivated his alarm from the server, and that there aren't any signs of forced entry. Which means someone knew about the toolbox, and they came into the house with a key. "I talked to the people in this room about the toolbox," Steve tells Chin, Kono, and Danny. Then Steve remembers. "And my sister."

As they move out, Steve is surprised when Danny presses the Camaro keys into Steve's hand. Looking at the keys, Steve asks quietly, "You're sure?"

"Your sister's fine," Danny insists, pushing Steve out of the house with his hand on the small of Steve's back. Steve tries not to read too much into that touch. "But in the unlikely event that she's not, I'm gonna help you find her."

Steve nods and calls his sister for the third time as he gets into the car and starts it. Mary doesn't answer. "Something's wrong," Steve says to Danny as he pulls out onto the road. 

Danny puts his hand on Steve's shoulder and keeps his eyes on the road as he says, "Do me a favor. Do not go there, okay? You don't know anything. It's still early." Danny chuckles darkly. "Maybe you pissed her off and she doesn't want to talk to you for the next week. Been known to happen."

"Yeah, it has," Steve replies, quickly looking over at Danny while trying to keep his eyes on the road. "But Danny, they didn't break into the house. The only other person, besides you, who has a key to the house is Mary."

Danny nods with a frown. After a moment, he says quietly, "I'm sorry I wasn't there last night. I could've helped you."

Steve nods, appreciating the apology, and simultaneously feeling bad that Danny is the one saying he's sorry. Not that Steve thinks he has much to apologize for, but he still feels like something's off about the whole thing. He wants to ask if Danny told his parents about them, but that feels like a conversation that's too dangerous to have while going 60 on the way to make sure Mary hasn't been killed.

Instead, Steve asks, "You'll be there tonight?"

Danny takes his hand away from Steve's shoulder and shrugs.

Steve pulls up to Mary's house and there's no time to figure out what Danny means by that.

~*~

Mary is fine, and she helps Steve solve at least some of the case. After the kidnapping, though, Steve isn't comfortable having Mary stay on the island. He convinces her to go back to LA, at least for the time being. 

On the way to the airport, Steve looks at Mary in the passenger seat, and suddenly Steve understands why Danny was so upset with him. Steve wants to tell Mary face-to-face about his relationship with Danny, and he's about to put her on a plane back to the mainland. Between this case they've been working on and the very real dangers of Steve's normal work, there's a chance he won't ever see her again. This might be Steve's last shot to do this right. 

Clearing his throat, Steve says, "I have to tell you something, but you can't tell anyone else until I say it's alright. Can you do that?"

Mary looks at Steve with wide eyes for a moment before she nods. "Yeah. Yeah, sure. I can do that. Is it about Dad?"

Steve shakes his head. "It's about me." Steve swallows his nervousness. He has to do this. It's important.

"What, are you dying?" Mary says with a chuckle, but her eyes say she's afraid it might not be a joke.

"No, no, nothing like that," Steve assures her. "I'm seeing someone. It–"

Mary interrupts him. "You mean Danny?"

Steve snaps his mouth shut and feels his face turn bright red. He flounders for the right words and finally asks, "How did you know?"

"Steve," Mary says flatly, an unamused expression on her face. "He's always over at your house."

"That's not–"

"It's totally true," Mary laughs, smacking Steve's arm. "Come on. There's two toothbrushes in your bathroom. More often than not, both sides of your bed have been slept in."

"That doesn't mean it's Danny."

Mary smirks. " _And_ half the pants hanging in your closet are way too short for you."

Steve drives in silence for a moment before letting out a relieved chuckle. "You figured all that out, huh? You been spying on me?"

Mary shrugs. "I go by the house sometimes."

"Ah." Steve pulls into the parking garage at the airport. "Well, now you know for sure. It's true. Or, it has been true."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Mary asks, her eyes glinting with the prospect of gossip.

Steve sighs. "He's mad at me."

"You'll work it out," Mary insists, squeezing Steve's shoulder. "Now c'mon. I've got a plane to catch."

When Steve gets home, there's a new pack of long boards in the fridge (one missing) and Danny is sitting out on one of the beach chairs. This is good. This means Danny's done not talking. Steve takes a beer, opens it, and heads out to sit next to Danny. "Hey."

"Hey," Danny says, squinting out at the water. He's got his bare toes buried in the sand and his tie from earlier is gone. He doesn't start in on a tirade right away, so Steve decides to go first. 

"I told Mary about us," Steve says, leaving out the part where Mary figured it out on her own. 

Danny looks over at Steve, staring like he's trying to figure out whether or not Steve's lying. He must only see the truth, because Danny smiles, breaking out into a laugh. "You couldn't have done that before I left Jersey?"

"I didn't realize I even wanted to tell her until today." The sun's starting to go down, painting bright colors across the sky. Steve only has eyes for Danny.

"What if she spills the beans?" Danny picks at the label on his beer bottle. He's much too far away.

"She won't, and even if she does..." Steve gets up and kneels down in front of Danny, resting his arms on Danny's wide-spread knees. "It won't be the end of the world."

Danny leans closer until his forehead touches Steve's, his hands on Steve's shoulders. Steve breathes in Danny's scent, and it makes him shudder with want and the last vestiges of the loneliest week he's spent in a long time. 

"Last week it would've been," Danny says.

Steve feels raw, and as soon as the words are in his head, he can't keep them from tumbling out. "Last week I thought I knew how to live without you. Now I know I can't."

Danny makes a pained noise in the back of his throat and then he's kissing Steve, rough and needy. Steve kisses back, kneeling up higher and getting his hands on Danny's face. Steve pours everything he has into the kiss, pressing in just the right rhythm with his lips and licking into Danny's mouth with his tongue. 

When they break apart for just a moment, Danny whispers, "Inside. Upstairs. C'mon."

Steve stands up and lets Danny take his hand and lead him into the house. Upstairs, in Steve's bedroom, Danny falls back onto the bed, arching his back as he scoots closer to the pillows and reaching out his arms for Steve. Steve doesn't even bother to take off his shirt before he's back in Danny's arms, kissing Danny. Danny breaks off to kiss down Steve's jaw and neck. 

"I missed you," Steve says, opening the buttons of Danny's shirt. "Danno."

"Yeah," Danny says, getting his hands under Steve's t-shirt and pushing it up. "Missed you, too. Doofus."

Steve smiles, letting Danny pull off his shirt before diving in and kissing him again. Danny's shirt and undershirt are quickly taken care of and Steve pulls off Danny's pants before dropping his own. As he lays back down over Danny, letting every inch of his skin lay against Danny's, Steve asks, "What do you want, baby?"

Danny groans and rocks his hips, pushing his cock up against Steve's stomach. Danny shudders. "God, Steve! Fuck me, okay? I want you to fuck me."

Steve's breath catches at the thought until he lets it out harsh, like he's been punched in the stomach. He props himself up on his arms and looks Danny in the eye. Danny looks right back, his eyes hooded but with a glint of a challenge there.

It occurs to Steve that this is how people must feel when they say they're in love. 

Steve's balancing on the verge of being overwhelmed, so he leans down into another kiss to distract himself. Danny squirms under Steve, making little whining noises in the back of his throat and wrapping his legs around Steve's. Steve holds Danny close and rolls them closer to the nightstand with the supplies. 

It doesn't take long to get Danny opened up, and then Danny's rolling a condom down Steve's cock. He lowers himself onto Steve with a hiss that Steve knows from experience is more about pleasure than being in pain. Danny's ass surrounds Steve's cock, clenching down on it and Steve has to fight the urge to thrust up before Danny's ready.

"Shit, Danno," Steve gasps, watching Danny bite his lower lip as he works himself down. "Fuck. Oh, God. Come on!" Steve's hand squeeze at Danny's hips, wanting more.

Danny laughs. "What d'you think I'm doing, babe?" Then he's fully seated. Danny pulls up and then drops down again with a throaty groan.

Pleasure blossoms through Steve's entire body on every slow, careful stroke. "Fuck, I love that. Do that all the time."

Danny laughs again, leaning forward to kiss Steve's neck, to worry a mark against Steve's shoulder. Then he hisses, and Steve knows it's the bad sort of hiss. 

"What?" Steve asks, rubbing both thumbs against Danny's hips. "What's wrong?"

Danny shifts his weight to one side and says, "My knee. Acting up again."

"We can work around that," Steve tells Danny, rolling them over and giving Danny a few good thrusts until he finds the one that makes Danny's eyes roll back.

"Yeah, there," Danny says, one hand tugging the hair at the back of Steve's head. 

Steve focuses on that feeling, and on the intensity of Danny's cries as he thrusts. He finds Danny's prostate again and again, faster and faster until Danny gasps. Danny curls in on himself and around Steve, and Danny's cock shudders between them, and Danny's strong arms squeeze so tightly that Steve can't breathe, but it doesn't matter because Steve's coming too and his vision goes black anyway. 

Steve collapses half on top of Danny and holds on, unwilling to be the one that breaks contact first. When his breath and heart rate are back to normal, Steve says, "You should tell your parents about us."

"Yeah?" Danny replies, fumbling with his loose arm for the packet of wet wipes in the nightstand drawer. "And when they ask why I didn't mention you during my visit?"

"Tell them the truth," Steve insists, grabbing one of the wet wipes from Danny and getting cleaned up. "I'm in the Navy. We've had to be discreet." Steve still doesn't mention Mary figuring them out. He might still be embarrassed about that.

Danny rubs at the coarse hair on his belly with a wipe, and asks, "When do we tell everyone else?"

"We should hold off on telling Chin and Kono for as long as possible," Steve says, tossing his wipe and condom into the trash next to the nightstand. He settles back against his pillow. "Plausible deniability if word gets out, and they're asked to testify."

"How 'bout the rest of my family?" Danny settles in next to Steve. "I mean, once one of them knows, all of 'em are gonna know." Danny frowns, his forehead creasing.

"D'you think they'll have a problem with it?" Steve asks carefully. "Are they...?"

"Homophobic?" Danny asks. He shakes his head. "Nah. Queerness kinda runs in the family. Uncle Lou, my cousin Will, my _other_ cousin Denise. Me. Probably more back in the day." Danny shrugs. "Some of the guys I used to work with in Jersey, they'd have a problem. Not my family, though."

Steve nods, relieved, and then something occurs to him. "You have a cousin named Will Williams?"

"William Williams _the fourth_ ," Danny replies with a chuckle. He knocks his knuckles against Steve's arm. "Hey, at least Will isn't bi like me. He's about a thousand percent gay, which means the name'll probably die with him."

Steve laughs, sliding down so he's laying flat and pulling Danny into his arms. "C'mere." Steve kisses Danny's temple. "Thanks for coming over."

"Thanks for leaving me thirty-seven apologies in my voice mail," Danny replies, settling into Steve's hold. "We'll work it out. Believe me, I came to a custody agreement with my ex. I can compromise with anyone."

Nodding, Steve thinks about the problem. Danny should be able to share his life with his family. It's weird for Steve to think about having that many people care what's going on with him. For so long it's just been his dad, his aunt, and his sister. No other family to speak of. Danny has his brother, his sisters, his parents, cousins, nieces and nephews, and a daughter. Altogether that's a lot of potential intel leaks, and everything in Steve's brain is screaming for him not to do it, that it's not safe. 

Steve thinks he must've heard somewhere along the line that loving someone isn't supposed to be safe. Steve's sure finding it to be the scariest thing he's ever done. He asks, "When's the next big Williams family get together?"

Danny looks up at the ceiling. "Uh... Fourth of July, probably."

"How patriotic," Steve replies. "Look, I've been in the service my whole adult life. DADT is gonna take more than a couple months to get taken off all the policy books. If it hasn't happened by July, we can tell the rest of your family then, okay? Is that a fair compromise?"

"My mother's going to burst, trying to keep the secret," Danny says. "But yeah. I think she can hold it in until then."

"Alright." Steve kisses Danny. "It's a plan."

"Okay," Danny replies with his cutest little smile. "Okay, but the plan for now is some sleep. Jet lag sucks."

Steve uses some nonverbal sounds to agree with Danny and settles down, switching off the bedside lamp. When Danny's snoring a few minutes later, Steve realizes he needs to close down the house, and set the alarm, and probably eat some sort of dinner. 

Steve spends ten minutes watching Danny's face as he sleeps, before he gets up to do those things. Steve isn't quite sure what it is about Danny that made him fall for the guy. Everything, Steve supposes. 

~*~

_May 2011_

Steve catches up with Kono, and they've not only lost their best chance to take down Wo Fat, but they've also let Sang Min slip through their fingers as well. Steve's disappointed, so when he catches sight of Danny, coming from the house Sang Min escaped through, he's ready to commiserate. Instead, Danny stumbles and Steve's heart stops.

He's calling, "Danny! Danny!" before he even realizes he's moving, landing on a crouch next to Danny. "You hit?"

"No," Danny says, clawing at his vest. "But something's not right. I can't breathe."

Steve helps Danny get his vest off, and loosens Danny's tie. If he wasn't terrified already, Steve is when Jenna says, "His pulse is slow." Someone says something about an ambulance, but Steve's attention is on Danny. What the hell is wrong with him? Is it a heart attack?

Steve curses to himself as Danny starts wheezing and tapping on his chest. "I can't breathe."

Doing his best to calm down Danny, Steve brushes his hand back over Danny's hair. "Alright, we got help on the way, okay? Just tell me what happened."

"Uh," Danny says, his movements sluggish as he points one finger back toward the house. "There's a body. No pulse."

Steve's torn. He wants to stay next to Danny and hold onto him and make sure Danny's okay, but he also needs to know what happened to Danny and who the hell hurt him.

Chin's right there next to Steve, his hand on Danny's knee and Steve knows he can't be the one waiting here, not when there's nothing he can do to help. He points at Chin and says, "Stay with him."

Somehow Jenna got in front of Steve when he wasn't paying attention, and as Steve enters the house, she calls back to him, "Stop! Stop right there!"

"What is it?" Steve gets a look at the body, and the spilled carton of milk near it. The first thought that runs through his head is _poison_.

Jenna shakes her head. "I don't know. But whatever he died from, it might be biological."

_Biological_. Danny might already be dead, or it might be just a matter of time. Steve rushes back, spurred on by Kono's cries.

"Steve! Steve!" Kono's still on the phone with dispatch, but that doesn't stop her from calling for him. 

Chin cries out, "He's starting to convulse."

Every intimate moment Steve has ever had with Danny flashes before his eyes as he falls to the ground next to Danny, wrapping his arms around Danny to protect him from hitting his head as his muscles jerk involuntarily.

Behind Steve, Jenna says, "I don't think you should touch–" but Chin waves her off.

"Hang in there, babe," Steve says in a low voice, holding back from the urge to kiss Danny's skin, just in case he is infectious. "Hang in there, Danno. Stay with me."

The ambulance takes forever to arrive, and no one questions it when Steve climbs in next to Danny's stretcher. As they ride to the hospital, Steve keeps his hand on Danny's shoulder whenever the EMT allows it. Danny seems to stabilize a little bit during the ride, but he doesn't wake up. 

Steve tries to keep it together, because he knows Danny would be disappointed in him if he fell apart right now and didn't make sure everything that needed doing was getting done. If this really is it, if Danny is dying, Steve's going to save his tears for later, when he can spare them.

Luckily while Steve is at the hospital, Jenna figures out that Danny's been poisoned by sarin, and the knowledge saves Danny's life. Steve does take a moment to sit in one of the waiting room chairs and put his head between his legs. He does some deep breathing exercises and pulls together what composure he can manage. Steve's team is on the way, and none of them know (without a doubt anyway) that Danny isn't just Steve's work partner. He's the love of Steve's life.

Steve doesn't _at all_ think about how he hasn't told that to Danny yet. He's pretty sure Danny knows, because they've been together since the fall (or almost seven years, depending on how you look at it). That doesn't mean Steve doesn't regret never saying it out loud.

The rest of the team gets to the hospital, and Jenna asks, "Does he have any family?"

Steve almost says he's Danny's family, but hiding his relationship is such a habit at this point that he ends up saying, "Yeah. A little girl and an ex-wife."

"Grace is staying with Danny this weekend, right?" Chin asks, and Steve remembers the conversation he and Danny had the night before, about Rachel and Stan being in Maui and Grace being around for a long weekend.

"Yeah," Steve replies, looking at his watch and ighing in relief. There's still time to get over to Grace's school before she's left waiting. He gives orders to the team, making sure to stop Chin before he gets too far. "You bring my car?"

"You mean Danny's car?" Chin asks with a little chuckle, handing over the keys to the Camaro. Yeah, Steve's not too certain the "carpool" excuse for showing up together more mornings than not. 

"Thanks." Steve takes the keys and pats Chin on the shoulder. He takes one last glance into Danny's room, finds Danny still asleep, and goes to pick up Grace.

~*~

After everyone's been caught, Steve finally gets to head back to the hospital to pick up Grace and bring her home for the night. He and Danny shared a few words when Steve dropped Grace off, but not nearly the ones Steve wanted to share.

When Steve gets into the room, Grace is asleep over on the bench next to the window, and Rachel is there, sitting next to the bed and holding Danny's hand. Danny's just as deeply asleep as Grace. Just what does Rachel think she's doing? Steve narrows his eyes and pulls a chair up to the other side of Danny's bed. "Rachel," he says with a nod, taking Danny's hand.

Rachel's eyes widen for a moment before she frowns at Steve. "Commander McGarrett."

"I thought you were in Maui," Steve says, putting his other hand on Danny's shoulder.

Mirroring Steve's movement, Rachel switches which hand is in Danny's and runs her now-free hand through Danny's hair. "Grace told me Danny was in the hospital, so I came right back."

Steve wonders how mad Danny would be if he shot Rachel with Grace in the room. Probably pretty upset. Steve clenches his jaw tightly and runs his thumb over Danny's collarbone. "Well, I'm here now," Steve says to her. "You can take Grace home. I've got it from here."

Rachel raises her eyebrows at Steve. "Don't you think it better for Danny's family to take care of him while he's in this state?"

"Look, um, Rachel," Steve says, leaning over Danny and keeping his voice low. "I appreciate the sentiment, I really do. But you're not Danny's family anymore."

With a surprised chuckle, Rachel stands so she can lean over Danny as well. "And I suppose _you_ are?"

"You're damn right I am." Steve gives Rachel his best glare and says, "Get your hand out of my partner's hair."

Below Steve, Danny says, "Guys?"

Danny's looking up at both Steve and Rachel like they've gone crazy. Rachel backs away, but Steve holds his ground. 

Danny addresses Rachel when he says, "Sorry about him. We're not sure he wasn't raised in the wild."

Steve rolls his eyes, but doesn't let go of Danny's hand. Danny doesn't pull away either.

Rachel crosses her arms over her chest and says, "I see. When we spoke the other week, Daniel, I must've misunderstood."

"Yeah," Danny says, giving Steve a little smile. "Must have." He sighs, rubbing his face with his free hand. "Look, Rachel. Thank you for coming here today. You didn't have to and I appreciate it."

"But?" Rachel prompts him.

Danny looks to Steve again, his eyebrows high and his eyes cutting over to Rachel for a fraction of an instant before they're back on Steve. Well, Steve's already as good as told her, so he nods, giving Danny permission.

Danny nods back and turns his head to look at Rachel. "We were something good years ago, Rachel, but you've got your life with Stan, okay? And I've got my life with Steve."

"With…" Rachel looks up at Steve and Steve nods at her, confirming it for her. "Oh. I _thought_ you were a tad overprotective. Um, sorry?" She shrugs with an uncomfortable smile.

"Rache?" When Danny has her attention, he continues in a soft voice. "We haven't told Grace yet, okay? I'd like her to find out from me." There's a hint of "don't tell her or else" in Danny's tone and Steve has to say he approves.

"Sure," Rachel says slowly, her eyes over on Grace. "Just …" Rachel sighs, and then looks back at Danny, shifting her gaze to Steve as she speaks. "Make sure you're certain before you tell her. She doesn't … her life isn't as stable right now as I would like."

"You and Stan?" Danny asks, and Rachel nods. Suddenly Rachel's possessiveness over Danny is starting to make a little more sense. She thought she might have a second shot with him.

Steve decides to make it his personal mission in life that Rachel will never get the second chance that Steve stumbled into.

"No, uh," Danny says, lacing his fingers with Steve's. "We'll make sure before we tell her."

Steve nods and doesn't mention the fact that they've been waiting for the official repeal date of Don't Ask Don't Tell before they tell her. Steve wanted to tell her earlier, but Danny made a good point, that it isn't fair to ask a six-year-old to keep such a big secret. It's too much to put on her, and Steve conceded the point.


	4. Loyalty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve has been falsely accused of Governor Jameson's murder, and Danny's not quite sure what to do with himself with Steve gone.

_June 2011_

"See this?" Danny calls toward the bathroom, pointing at the TV. "The king's hair game was flawless. I mean amazing." Danny scratches through the hair on his bare chest. "Look at that suit. White pants, white shirt, red lei. Two people on earth could pull off that look, okay?"

Steve peers around the corner, half of his face still covered in shaving cream. "If you don't say me, Danno, I'm gonna get jealous."

"No, _I'm_ the other one," Danny insists as Steve goes back to shaving. "I'd look smokin' in that get up."

"Yeah," Steve says, pausing as the water runs for a second. "But I'd look better."

"You'd look–" Danny scoffs. "Come in here and say that to my face!"

"You ever gonna get out of bed?" Steve asks.

"No," Danny says, grinning when Steve looks around the corner at him again. "Too many good things happen in this bed, babe."

Laughing, Steve leaves again, only to return a minute later with a clean face. "Come on! We're gonna be late for work!"

When Steve walks past the bed, Danny grabs him and pulls him in, getting jostled when Steve falls on him. It's fine. A little pain is worth having Steve in Danny's lap. Steve allows himself to be turned and pinned down against the mattress. Danny says, "I'm calling us in sick."

"We've gotta find Wo Fat, Danny. We don't have time to call in sick." Steve sounds like he's trying to make himself believe the words too.

Danny moves his hand down to Steve's crotch. "You sure we don't have time?"

Steve's cock stiffens and his eyebrows raise. "Well…"

And that's the moment Steve's phone rings.

Danny throws himself back onto the pillows with a groan, while Steve takes his phone out of his pocket.

"It's Chin," Steve tells Danny, readjusting himself in his pants and getting out of bed. "Chin? What's up?"

Resigned to the fact that his morning-sex fantasies aren't going to happen, Danny gets out of bed and shuffles toward the bathroom. He starts the shower going and takes a leak, before Steve comes in and says, "They found the money."

"What money?" Danny asks, halfway into the shower.

Steve leans against the bathroom doorway, watching as Danny steps into the water. "The money we stole from HPD. The money that burned. They found what was left." 

Danny sighs, a knot forming in his stomach that wasn't there five minutes ago. "You know," he calls over the spray of the water. "Life with you is never boring."

Steve sticks his head into the shower and nods quickly. "I know." He puckers his lips, so Danny gives him a quick kiss. Steve says, "I'm driving in now. I'll see you at work."

Danny turns up the hot water and starts washing off quickly. He's got a feeling today's going to be one hell of a day.

~*~

Things are never going to go well when Chin says, "We got a problem." Even less so when Steve is accusing high-ranking politicians of having ties to mobsters and terrorists, without rock-solid proof. 

"HPD is on the way to arrest you right now for Laura Hills' murder." Chin adds, his voice grave.

Steve looks around at the others in turn, before setting his gaze on Danny. Still looking at Danny, Steve gives the order to start destroying everything they can.

Danny ignores the orders and walks right up to Steve. "I'm going with you."

Steve's eyes get a little watery and he shakes his head. "I'll be faster without you. I need you here, Danno."

"Steve," Danny pleads, wrapping one hand around Steve's wrist. "What're you gonna do? Disappear?"

Steve shakes his head. "I'm gonna get the evidence I need. Danny, I gotta go!"

Danny thinks this very well might be the last time he sees Steve, so regardless of the rest of the team around them, Danny pulls Steve into a harsh kiss. Steve kisses back once, twice, and then he's gone, out the door. 

Danny can't believe he just did that, after most of a year of hiding their relationship, now it's all out there. Wincing, Danny turns around. Jenna looks absolutely shocked, Kono's got her brows raised about as far as they'll go, and Chin rolls his eyes, shaking his head. Before Danny can say anything, HPD officers are streaming into the office and taking everything over. 

When they arrest Kono, Danny has to bite his lip hard to prevent himself from doing something stupid. Chin has run off to do _something_ and Danny is left in an office with Jenna Kaye still staring at him like he's grown a second head.

"What?" Danny asks, unable to stand the weight of her stare any longer. "Do I have something on my face?"

"You kissed Steve," she says.

Danny doesn't have the time to hold her hand through this revelation. "Wow, that's really observant of you. Can we focus on the case, please?"

Jenna nods, swallowing loudly. "Okay. What can I do?"

Danny looks around at all of the HPD officers in their space, their HQ, and they're all _touching_ everything. Danny thinks he should move the Popsicle-stick sculpture Grace made in kindergarten so no one destroys it. 

There's no time for that, though. Danny has to find Steve, and he has to do it soon, before anyone else does. Danny turns to Jenna and asks, "Watch them, okay? Let me know if anything changes."

"Okay," Jenna replies, curling her fingers around the back of a chair like she needs the support. "And you?"

"I'm going to find Steve before they do," Danny tells her, leaving the office. It's only been half an hour since Steve slipped HPD's net, but Danny knows how far Steve can get in half an hour. Every minute counts when he's already so far behind Steve might as well be on another continent now. 

Still, it's not like Danny has no idea where Steve is headed. Steve is going to finish this the same way he finishes everything else, by charging head first at the problem and battering himself against it until either the problem gives, or Steve's body does. 

Danny is going to kill that stubborn son of a bitch. 

Danny's not quite out to his car when his phone rings. He knows it's too much to hope for it to be Steve calling. It's Kamekona. Danny picks up, but right away, he says, "Big guy, it's not a good time, okay?" Danny gets to his car and has to juggle the phone, his keys, and the car door. "Hold on."

"It's about McGarrett," Kamekona says before Danny can hang up on him. 

"What?" Danny demands, sitting down in his car. The seat's too far back because Steve drove it last, coming back from their witness' murder. God damn it. "What about McGarrett?"

Kamekona sighs and says, "I'm worried about him. He just paid me a visit. Loaded up for bear."

"Whoa! You gave him a gun?" Danny squeezes both temples with one hand around his face. This just got so much worse. Without a gun, Steve is dangerous. With a gun – or more than one as Kamekona seems to imply – Steve's going to be virtually unstoppable. 

Danny knows that no one is actually unstoppable. He's treated enough of Steve's wounds to know that Steve is very, very not invulnerable. And yet, Danny knows what suicide mission Steve has in mind. "He's going after the governor."

Danny gets to the governor's house just as Chin is bringing Steve out in handcuffs. "Hey!" Danny calls, rushing forward to get to Steve. Chin's trying to push Steve into the back of a HPD car. "Hey, Chin!"

"Danny," Chin says in warning, but like hell is Danny going to heed that warning. Not while Steve's being _arrested_ by someone Danny thought was one of their own.

"Hey! What the hell are you doing? What happened, huh?" Danny demands, his eyes on Steve. Steve's giving Danny this desperate look and Danny feels so god damned trapped by that look that he might just start throwing punches if anyone gives him the opportunity. 

"The governor's dead," Chin says and Danny frantically meets Steve's eyes.

The question isn't even on Danny's tongue before Steve answers it. "It was Wo Fat," Steve says, his voice deadly calm, to start. Steve loses his composure when he repeats himself. "D'you understand? It was Wo Fat, Danny!"

Danny doesn't understand why Chin doesn't seem to believe Steve. Steve looks so trapped and it's making Danny feel more than a little violent. "Let him go," Danny cries at Chin. "Let him go!"

Chin shakes his head at Danny, wide-eyed. "He was the only one there. His gun was just discharged. I can't let him go." He directs Steve down into the car and turns back to Danny.

Fist balled up, it takes all of Danny's willpower not to punch Chin in the nose. "Yes you can. We have jurisdiction. We're Five-0." Danny points at Steve, down in the car and looking up at Danny like he's pleading for Danny to get him out of this. Danny has to get Steve out of this! "Let him go!"

"You don't understand, Danny," Chin says, closing the door and leaning toward Danny. He hisses, "There is no more Five-0!"

Danny catches sight of the badge on Chin's vest and instead of "Five-0" it says "HPD". Danny's hands go cold and he feels like he's going to throw up. "What did you do, huh? What did you do?" Chin shakes his head and starts walking away, so Danny calls after him, "You just went back to them after everything they did to you? Huh?"

Chin gets into the front seat of the cruiser, ignoring Danny.

Danny just about puts his fist through the window of the cruiser before he thinks better of it. He sets his palm against Steve's window and says, "Don't worry, Steve. I'll get you out of there. Hang in there." He kisses his palm and then puts it back against the window. "I'll get this thing straightened out, okay?"

Steve nods solemnly and then the cruiser pulls away. Danny watches it go, seething with rage. Can no one see that Steve doesn't deserve this? How can they just do this to him after everything he's done for this damn state? Fuck.

~*~

It's been three days and Danny hasn't made much progress, besides getting Kono out on bail. No one's come to take his badge and gun, but no one at HPD is respecting them either. They've finished booking Steve and moved him to Halawa. Today, they're finally letting Danny see him, so Danny sets his things in the locker outside the secure area and signs in.

One of the guards escorts Danny to the visitation room and directs him to one of the booths. Danny sits, resting his elbows on the countertop in front of him, and then resting his head in his hands. A few minutes later, a flash of orange passes the periphery of his vision. Danny looks up and Steve is there.

He's there and Danny bites the inside of his cheek so his eyes will stop watering. Steve sits down on the other side of the glass, and Danny manages to pick up his telephone at the same time Steve picks up the other. "Hi, honey," Steve says, sarcastically enough that anyone listening in on their conversation would think he was kidding.

Danny knows from the look in Steve's eyes that it's not a joke. "Hey, pumpkin," Danny responds, scaring up a little smile for Steve.

Steve smiles back, and Danny doesn't miss the dark lines under his eyes.

"You okay in there?" Danny asks, setting the fingers of his free hands against the bottom of the glass between them. 

Steve mirrors Danny's finger placement and shrugs. "It's jail, Danny. It's not supposed to be fun."

"Right." Danny sighs, looking down at their hands. "So, since you've been in here." Danny pauses to make sure Steve is following, and Steve nods. "Since then, I, uh, got Kono out on bail. And, oh, HPD locked down our HQ, told me if they saw me there again, I'd be shot. So..."

"So not much progress on Wo Fat?" Steve asks. 

"Not much," Danny agrees with a sigh. He takes another look over Steve, making sure he's not hiding injuries he doesn't want Danny to see. Danny gestures at all of Steve's torso. "I have to say, this is not a picture I ever thought I'd be seeing."

"What?" Steve asks, looking down at himself.

"You in the orange jump suit," Danny says, shifting in his seat. "You got a-a roommate?"

Steve shakes his head. "Nah, they're keeping me in solitary. For protection." He presses more of his palm against the glass, Danny mirroring the gesture. "Been thinkin' about you every night, babe."

Danny chuckles. "How 'bout sleep? You sleeping alright?"

Steve shakes his head. "You?"

"Nah," says Danny. "Turns out I got used to the sound of snoring. Without it all I hear are the waves, and, well..."

Steve's face opens up, his eyes wide and brows high. "I don't–" he starts to say, before looking at their surroundings. Instead, he mouths at Danny, "I don't snore."

Danny smiles and nods, laughing when Steve responds with a furious shake of his head. 

"You lie," Steve insists, the edges of his mouth curving upward. "You're a liar, Daniel."

"Alright, well," Danny says, catching sight of the guard over at the door. He holds up two fingers, which Danny thinks must mean his five minutes is almost up. "I just wanted to check on you, let you know I'm doing everything I can."

"I know you are, Danny," Steve says, his smile soft and fond.

Danny nods. It's certainly been different, being with someone who actually trusts him for once. It makes Danny terrified of disappointing Steve. Right now, Danny can't think of any way he'll possibly be able to prove Steve innocent. "Okay."

The guard calls out, "One minute," distracting Danny from Steve. 

"Oh, and Danno?" Steve says. Danny turns back toward Steve. Steve's got his earnest-face on as he says, "I love you, alright?"

Danny can't help it. He laughs, loud and manically, before covering his mouth with his hand.

"What?" Steve asks, like he's offended.

"I'm sorry," Danny says, trying to clamp down on his chuckles. "But really, Steve? Here? The first time you say that to me and it's in prison? You know these calls are recorded, right?" Danny waggles his phone for emphasis.

"I don't care," Steve says, sincerity in the tilt of his eyes, the grim line of his mouth. "I needed you to hear it."

Suddenly, Danny gets suspicious. "Why? What are you planning on doing?"

"Nothing," Steve says, his voice low like it's a warning for Danny to leave it alone.

Danny nods. "Okay. I know you. That means you're gonna do something stupid, aren't you?"

"I didn't say that." Steve sits back in his chair, like he does whenever he's trying to control the conversation. 

"You didn't have to say it." Danny points his finger at Steve. "You just sit tight, okay, my friend? Sit tight, and don't do anything stupid."

"Time's up!" the guard calls, starting to walk toward Danny.

Shit. Danny has to get his last few words in quick. "Love you, too. Don't do anything stupid."

"No promises," Steve says right before the guard holds out his hand for Danny's phone. If it weren't for the goofy grin on Steve's face, Danny would be more worried than he is.

Through the glass, Danny mouths, "Tomorrow."

Steve nods, hanging up his own handset. Danny follows along as the guard on the other side escorts Steve along the bank of visitation windows and out the door at the end. Danny sighs. It's just until tomorrow. Danny will see Steve again tomorrow. 

~*~

Danny's driving away from Halawa when he gets a call from a number he doesn't recognize. He puts the phone on speaker. "Detective Williams."

"Detective Danny Williams?" A man's voice asks.

"Yeah, who's this?" Danny stops at a red light.

"Commander Joe White. I was told you left a message for me with Coronado this morning. About Steve McGarrett?" The voice sounds gruff, but friendly, and Danny hopes he's not on a wild goose chase here.

"Yeah, uh, hi," Danny says, pulling through the green light and then off to the side of the road so he can focus on the call. "You were Steve's Commanding Officer before he came to Five-0, right? I mean, that's what he told me."

"That's right," the voice says. "Is everything okay?"

Danny chuckles nervously. "Yeah, not so much. He could really use some help."

"Is that right?" White's enunciating carefully, which makes Danny afraid he's about to lose the guy.

"Look, long story short, Governor Jameson's dead, Steve's been accused of her murder. _Falsely_ accused, obviously. I've got no team left, and no idea how to get him out of this, so..."

"Ah. I see."

After a few seconds of silence, Danny asks, "You always this talkative?"

"Oh, I'm just thinking, son." White pauses for another few seconds, and then asks, "You the Danny Steve mentioned last time I spoke to him?"

"Uh," Danny says, unsure what White could mean by that. There was no way Steve was going to tell his _Commanding Officer_ about Danny before all the DADT stuff was worked out. Last Danny had heard, it was still going to be a few months, maybe by the fall. "I mean, I assume so? I don't think he knows any other Dannys."

White clears his throat and asks, "You ready to do whatever it takes to get Steve out of this, Danny?"

Danny thinks about what White could mean by that, and he thinks about how certain consequences could affect Grace, but ultimately, Danny says, "Yes, sir."

"Good man," White says. "Give me a few days, and I'll fly in. Pick me up at the airport, and we'll get to work."

"Yeah, okay," Danny says, more than a little relieved. The call ends and Danny gets back on the road, heading for Jenna's place. He hopes to God she's found something new, something he can use to prove Steve's innocent.

~*~

A few nights later, Danny drives up to Steve's house, like he has every night this week, and frowns at the crime scene tape blocking the driveway. Danny's toothbrush is in there. So's his favorite shirt, and the bed, which is so much better than the bed at Danny's apartment. 

The bed here smells like Steve. The one at Danny's place barely even smells like Danny anymore. He only sleeps there when he's got Grace, and she and Rachel and Stan left on a month-long trip to the UK three weeks ago. 

A knock on Danny's window scares the wits out of him, but it's just Kono. Danny rolls down the window. "Hey."

"Hey," she says, before circling around the car and getting in the other side. "What are you doing here?"

"Sulking," Danny says. "You?"

"I don't know," she says with a sigh, brushing back her hair with one hand. "IA's been up my ass all week. Went for a drive to clear my head. Saw your car."

"Thought you'd say hello?" Danny sighs, looking at the house again. He nods toward it. "I couldn't even ask to pack up my stuff."

Almost sleepily, Kono asks, "What?"

Pointing at the house, Danny says, "Well, normally a perp goes to jail, we let their spouse or roommate or whatever pack a few things, right?"

"You saying you live here?" Kono chuckles, looking over at Danny. 

"Most nights, yeah." 

Kono nods. They sit together silently for a few moments, and after the last few days of sheer terror and worry, it's kind of nice. Danny's just contemplating suggesting they go get a beer when Kono asks, "How long have you two been..."

Danny looks at his watch, and sees the date. June 21st. Danny bursts into laughter. 

"What?" Kono asks, her smile amused, but her brows furrowed. "What's so funny?"

The laughter rolls through Danny's body so hard he doesn't think it's ever going to stop. His eyes water and his stomach muscles ache. 

"Danny?"

Taking a deep breath, Danny waves off Kono's concern. "I'm okay," he says, breathing again. "It's just, you wanna know how long Steve and I have been together?"

Kono nods. 

"On _this_ day, _seven_ years ago, Steve and I got married." Danny lets out the rest of his breath in relief. He hasn't told anyone about the marriage, and it's freeing to finally do so now. "It's our anniversary!"

"What?" Kono cries, her eyes wide and her jaw dropped. "But... What?"

Danny tells Kono about that weekend in Boston, about Steve using an alias, about meeting Steve again in Hawaii, and about all the Don't Ask Don't Tell bullshit surrounding their relationship. 

"Grace and Rachel?" Kono asks. "I mean, Grace is six..."

Danny shrugs. "Rachel broke up with me the day before I met Steve. We only found out after I'd gone and married Steve that she was pregnant with Grace."

"Wasn't she pissed when she found out you married someone else?"

Danny winces and confesses, "I never actually told Rachel about getting married."

Kono punches Danny's arm, just as he's expecting her to. "How could you not tell her?"

"I was embarrassed, okay?" Danny rubs his shoulder and looks out at the house again. "I always figured if I did get married, it'd be a big wedding with all my family there, you know? Not a fast-tracked courthouse wedding after a weekend-long hookup."

"Slutty," Kono says with a wry grin. 

Danny laughs. "Hey, you've seen Steve with his shirt off. I was powerless to resist."

Kono rolls her eyes and laughs again. "Yeah, I can understand that."

With one last look up at the house, Danny starts the engine. "Beers on me?"

Kono nods, opening her door. "I'll follow you there."

~*~

Danny rolls his neck as he waits for the guard to open the door. It's sad that this part of his day has become so routine, but Danny's not going to complain. He doesn't want to see Steve any less than the five minutes a day they've been allowing him so far. 

"We don't have much time," Danny says to Commander White, who's old enough to be Danny's father, but still feels so dangerous that Danny doesn't like having his back to the guy. "We're gonna have to make everything quick. I'll say hi, and then you can ask him what you need to ask."

"Okay," White says, his voice almost musical, like he thinks Danny's cute or something. 

Danny is many things, but _cute_ is not one of them.

Sitting down at the chair the guard indicates, Danny picks up the phone. Steve shows up a moment later. He smiles at Danny with his bedroom eyes, which while Danny appreciates them in the privacy of their own home, aren't appropriate with Steve's CO standing over Danny's shoulder, just out of Steve's line of sight.

"Why are you smiling at me like that?" Danny asks, drawing his hand across his neck in a hopefully not-too-subtle "kill it" gesture.

Steve must not get it, because he says, "You're not wearing a tie. It suits you."

Danny frowns, letting some breath out through his nose in an exasperated puff. "No, I'm not wearing a tie. It's 'cause there's no dress code for an out of work cop."

Steve raises an eyebrow and starts to ask, "Ba–"

Cutting Steve off with a sharp hiss, Danny shakes his head and motions sideways with his eyes. 

Steve nods. He clears his throat and changes the topic. "You get any leads on Wo Fat?"

"Uh, no. Nothing yet." Danny knows he should let Joe in on the conversation now, but he just doesn't want to give up his time with Steve. God, Danny misses Steve so much it hurts.

Of course, Steve doesn't make things any easier when he asks, "How's Gracie? You talk to her last night?"

Danny's heart breaks with the reminder of how much Steve cares about his daughter, and how the next time she sees Steve, it might be from behind glass. He has to look up and blink to regain his composure. "She's, uh. She's good. They're flying back from London on Wednesday."

"That's good." Steve gives Danny a soft look and taps his fingers against the glass twice before pulling back. Danny doesn't dare return the gesture, but he nods and gives Steve a little smile.

There's only a few minutes of their visit left, so Danny has to turn it over, as much as he doesn't want to. "Listen. I know you don't like visitors, but this guy wouldn't take no for an answer, so…"

Danny lets White take the phone, and he retreats to the end of the hallway to regain some of his composure. He wishes he didn't have to. He wishes he could cry and rage and beat someone's fucking face in for what they're doing to Steve, but that would draw _attention_ to his relationship with Steve. It's attention they can't afford, especially not now, with Steve's whole future on the line. If the Commander White and the Navy can get Steve out of this, and they won't because of some barbaric rule that's on the way out, Danny will never forgive himself.

After a few minutes, White joins Danny, saying, "C'mon. We've got some work to do."

"You done anything like this before?" Danny asks, leading White past the guard and back to the reception area. "Homicide investigation?"

"Something like," White replies with a nod. "Can't say any more than that, since it's –"

"Classified, yeah, I know the drill." Danny's lost count of how many conversations Steve has had to cut off because they run into something "Classified."

White goes silent while they finish checking out, and all the way back to the car. When they get in, White asks, "How long have you and Steve known each other?"

Danny sure as hell doesn't want to mention the wedding, so he says, "Since just after his father's death. Why?"

"Hmm," White says with a shrug and a shake of his head. "Just seems like longer, is all."

Danny doesn't know what to say about _that_ , so he says, "I figure we should start at Five-0 HQ. They've got it locked down, but most of our information on Wo Fat was there."

"Sounds good to me," White replies, that same musical lilt in his voice. Danny tries not to let it bother him. White came all the way here just to help Steve, and Danny needs the help of he's ever going to get Steve home.

~*~

It's only an hour later when Danny's phone rings. "Williams."

"Danny. It's Duke. We got a call for an ambulance to Halawa." Danny's heart drops as Duke continues. "Steve's been injured. From what I can tell it's serious, but not critical."

"When?" Danny asks, throwing Chin a concerned look.

"About fifteen minutes ago. I'm here at Halawa and I can see Steve being put in the bus right now. And Danny? It was Victor Hesse."

"Okay," Danny says, letting his brain slip into Detective mode so he doesn't start down the path to worried-boyfriend mode. If Victor Hesse was involved, hurting Steve must've had something to do with Wo Fat. "Don't move. I'm on my way."

Danny hangs up and tells Chin what's going on. They go to confront Hesse (Danny thinks if Chin wasn't there, he might have trouble not putting a few extra holes in Hesse for revenge) and find out Hesse has given Steve an opportunity to escape custody. And what does the animal do? He goes and escapes custody.

"I'm gonna kill him," Danny says to Chin as they leave Halawa, headed for the scene where Steve escaped his ambulance. "I could see that Steve was going to do something stupid, and I told him not to, and yet here he is, _doing something stupid_."

"Do you want me to drive?" Chin asks, his brows high and furrowed, his fingers clenched on the armrest as Danny takes a turn maybe a tiny bit fast. 

"No," Danny says, easing up on the accelerator. "I'm fine. Just pissed off."

Chin shakes his head and faces out the window as is says, "You sound more worried to me." 

"Being worried about grown men, who should really know better than than to... _That_ makes me angry," Danny explains.

They get to the ambulance and Danny cringes when he sees what Steve has done to the guard and the EMT. Danny knows it could be a lot worse. If Steve had wanted, both of those men would be dead right now. As it is, they've got bruises, and the guard maybe has a concussion.

"Why couldn't he just trust me to fix this for him?" Danny says with a sigh, bending down to touch the pavement next to a splatter of blood that has to be Steve's. "He's gonna bleed out and we'll find him dead in an alleyway somewhere, and–"

Chin wraps his arms around Danny and holds him tightly. "He's going to be fine," Chin insists. "The wound wasn't that bad, and Steve's a tough guy."

"Yeah," Danny says, clearing his throat and giving Chin a squeeze back before breaking the hug. "I mean, he's too stubborn to die, right?"

"Right," Chin says, nodding decisively. "Plus, we know he's going after Wo Fat. That should help us find him."

"I don't know about that," Danny says, thinking that if Steve doesn't want to be found, they probably won't find him. "But if we can bring Wo Fat in before Steve gets there, we can keep Steve from going after him with no back up."

"Let's get to it!"

~*~

"Max," Danny says as he answers his phone, "I don't really have time to talk. In case you haven't heard, I'm a little busy–"

"I have something you've been looking for," Max says, and his voice sounds a little flatter than usual, like he's being very serious. "Or should I say someone?"

"You've got him?" Danny asks, slapping Chin on the shoulder to get his attention. "Is he okay?"

"He will need some fluids and rest," Max says, "but otherwise, I expect the patient to make a full recovery."

"What's the address?" Danny heads toward the car, expecting Chin to follow him. "Text me the address. I'll be there in a minute. Don't let him leave before I get there!"

Danny hangs up on Max's reply, too eager to get to Steve to wait for pleasantries. Chin is half a step behind him, to Danny's relief. 

As they approach the car, Chin holds out his hand. "I'll drive."

" _Chin_." Danny shakes his head. "You won't get us there fast enough."

Chin gives him a stern look. "Danny, you're shaking. I promise, I will get you there as fast as I can."

Danny looks down at his hands, and they are shaking pretty badly. Must be the adrenaline. Danny doesn't point out how adrenaline helps with driving reflexes, because now that he notices it, he also feels about two seconds from throwing up. Without a word, Danny hands Chin Ho his keys and gets in the passenger seat. 

"Thank you," Chin says as he gets in the car and starts the engine. "Now, give me the address."

Max's place isn't too hard to find, and Danny practically vaults up the stairs to the front door. He knocks quickly and clenches his fists so he doesn't do something stupid and attention-drawing, like kick down the door. 

Danny hears Steve protesting from inside, which means he's still alive and talking, which is a relief. Max answers the door despite Steve's protests. 

Danny sees Steve, standing there alive and with that dopey surprised expression and in unfamiliar clothes, and Danny can't help himself. He brushes past Max, crying, "What the hell is the matter with you, huh? What's the matter with you? Breaking out of jail? Taking out a cop? Have you lost your mind?"

Steve holds his hands out and low. "Why are you yelling at me?"

"I'm not yelling at you!" Danny frowns and turns away, unable to look at Steve without losing his shit. 

"Actually," Max says, and Danny notices Max is wearing a very green shirt, "you were expressing yourself in a very loud manner."

Danny feels like hellfire incarnate. He snipes at Max, "Hey, zip it, Kermit, okay?" Turning back to Steve, Danny asks again, "Have you lost your mind?"

Steve frowns, but steps closer to Danny. Danny notices he doesn't quite smell right, between the antiseptic and the clothes that aren't his. "What choice did I have, Danny?"

"What _choice_ did you have?" Danny asks, incredulous, but he lets Steve reel him in, losing the will to fight as Steve's hand closes around Danny's wrist and his other slides up Danny's shoulder to his neck. "Unfair," Danny whispers.

Steve kisses Danny, deep and slow, like he doesn't even care there are others in the room. Danny kisses back, obviously, trying not to lose track of why he's so mad at Steve. But while Danny's temper runs hot, it tends to burn out quickly, and today is no exception. The knot in Danny's gut unravels and so does the tension in his shoulders. Steve is okay. 

When the kiss breaks, Danny does manage to mutter, "Fuck you, Steve."

Steve smiles his dopey bedroom smile and replies, "Maybe when I've had a few days to heal." He puts his hand over his stomach, where Hesse must've stabbed him, and a sharp sympathy pain runs up Danny's chest. 

Chin breaks into the conversation then, asking Steve, "You alright?"

"Thank you for asking, Chin," Steve says, giving Danny a _look_ , like he was expecting Danny's reaction to the situation to be any different. "Yeah, I'm alright. Thanks to Max."

Max has his mouth open in surprise, but nods when Chin says to him, "Mahalo for calling."

Danny makes a mental note to get Max a fruit basket or something for saving Steve's life, but right now, Danny has bigger things on his mind. Like finding Wo Fat and clearing Steve's name.

~*~

As Danny drives Steve to his _secret meeting_ with Joe White, in Max's humiliating excuse for a car, he notices Steve looking at him in the rearview mirror. "What?"

"You were scared for me," Steve says, like it's this big revelation, like it's never occurred to Steve before that Danny would care that much.

Danny scoffs. "You're damn right I was scared for you. You got _stabbed_ , Steve. You got out of the ambulance while it was still moving! You assaulted a police officer. Any one of those things could've killed you."

"But they didn't," Steve points out, and at least he's not callous enough to smile when Danny looks back at him. "Danno, I'm okay."

"You're insane," Danny replies, trying to keep his eyes on the road as much as possible. 

Steve chuckles. "Yeah?"

"Yeah," Danny replies, turning toward the mountain and heading up it to the address White gave them. He catches Steve's eyes in the mirror again, and knows that he's most definitely screwed. "But I love ya, anyway."

Steve leans forward and puts his hand on Danny's shoulder, squeezing. "When this is all over, I'll let you spend a whole day taking care of me. Alright, babe?"

Danny spots an HPD cruiser heading the other way and his pulse jumps up. He hisses back at Steve, "Would you _get down_ , please? Would you _please_ get down?"

Steve's hand disappears from Danny's shoulder. After a long moment, Steve says softly, "I'm sorry, Danny."

"I know," Danny says with a sigh. He scratches his eyebrow and says, "And I guess I can understand why you did what you did. Doesn't mean I have to like it." He looks back at Steve in the rearview, catching the way Steve's brows furrow and his eyes turn sad, almost like Danny's old dog used to do when Danny caught him getting into something he shouldn't. "Please don't look at me like that."

"Like what?" Steve asks in his defensive voice.

“With those damn puppy-dog eyes,” Danny replies, turning a corner that brings them into a _very_ nice neighborhood. “What, did Grace teach you that?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Steve says, his voice completely sincere, but Danny sees his smile in the mirror. 

“Yeah, sure you don’t.” Danny watches the house numbers as they go by, looking for the right place. “Sure.”

~*~

Danny never believed Steve murdered the governor, but to see the tape of Wo Fat killing her instead gives Danny a special sort of satisfaction. He’s seen Steve kill, but it has always been as a last resort, to protect himself or someone else. That’s not to say Danny agrees with Steve’s application of force at every turn, but overall, Danny’s proud to love a man who behaves like Steve does. 

Once Danny and Chin have the lieutenant governor convinced of Steve’s innocence, it doesn’t take much to convince HPD to let Steve go. The governor reinstates Five-0, with some conditions, which frankly, Danny is all for. Despite how consistently Steve gets results doing things his way, it would be nice to have back up from the governor when Danny feels the moral obligation to object.

They get Kono back from Wo Fat’s goons, without managing to find Wo Fat, but it still feels like a victory. Back at HQ, Chin gleefully pulls the crime scene tape off the door and lets the others in. Since Kamekona and Joe White are both there, Danny still avoids touching Steve as often as he would like. He just has to tell himself it’s just for the next few months.

Just a few more months, and Danny can stop worrying about it. Just a few more months and Danny can stop hiding.

He’s always been a pretty bad liar, anyway.

Steve finds Danny sitting in his office, going over the rest of the footage from John McGarrett’s SD card. He sets a beer down on Danny's desk and says, "Hey. You're already behind, babe. Drink up."

Danny gives Steve a smile, pausing the footage and leaving it for later. He holds up the beer and says, "To beating a murder rap."

Chuckling, Steve taps his bottle against Danny's and takes a drink. "Thanks for your help this week, Danny. I couldn't have done it without you."

Danny smiles, his eyes checking on the others out in the main room. He wishes his blinds were closed, because having Steve sitting on the edge of his desk, looking at him like that, has Danny ready to jump out of his skin with frustration. "You could pay me back, you know."

"Oh yeah?" Steve asks, his eyes also checking on the others. "H-how would you like me to do that?"

"Kisses," Danny says, leaning back in his chair and watching Steve's neck and ears color. "Lots and lots of kisses. Among other things."

Steve swallows, nodding. "You know, now that I think about it, I am feeling a little tired. Still healing." He gingerly pats his stomach, but he's smiling, so Danny likes where this is heading.

"Is that right?" Danny asks, taking another sip of his beer and noticing the way Steve's eyes follow the bob of Danny's throat when he swallows. 

Steve nods, his bedroom eyes in full-force. "Think you could ' _give me a ride home_ '?"

Danny could flirt, but he remembers sitting outside Steve's house the other night, and he has a question to ask. "In a couple months, when we can," Danny meets Steve's eyes, holding them, "I want to move in. Together, I mean. Officially."

"Yeah?" Steve asks, holding his hand out to Danny. 

Not even checking to see if anyone's watching, Danny puts his hand in Steve's. "Yeah," Danny says. "Do-do you want that?"

"Yes, Danny," Steve replies, his smile the most sincere one he has. "I want that."

~*~

_September 2011_

The day Don't Ask Don't Tell is finally repealed, Danny and Steve walk into HQ holding hands. Kono is still on suspension, and Jenna has gone back to D.C. to work on finding her fiance, so the only one in the office is Chin. He doesn't bat an eye, but he does say, "You know, it's state policy to register intra-office relationships. You might want to visit HR."

"Steve's got a meeting with the governor tomorrow," Danny tells him. "I'm sure it can wait until then."

Steve grins and Chin says, "Yeah, I'm sure it can." After tapping a few more things on the big monitor, Chin asks, "What time are we moving your things on Saturday?"

Danny looks at Steve and asks, "What do you think? 10?"

"That's not going to be enough time to get the rental truck back," Steve insists, wrapping an arm around Danny's shoulders. "Eight am, bright and early."

Danny groans. "I hate you," he says to Steve.

Steve laughs. "No you don't. You love me."

"Yeah, I love you." Danny grins at Steve and Steve smiles back at him.

Chin rolls his eyes and mutters, "Well, this is going to be fun…"


	5. History Pulling Me Down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kidnapped and drugged by Wo Fat, Steve imagines what his life could've been like, had he actually married Danny in 2004.

_September 2010_

Steve sits in the transport across from Anton Hesse, wary of the slight smile Anton gives him. Before Anton can think getting captured by this SEAL team is going to be a walk in the park, Steve says, "You're going to tell us everything. Every terrorist cell you and Victor helped arm, every supplier you worked with, all your trafficking associates, everyone you've ever sold weapons to."

Anton scoffs, his lip curling as he says in his Irish accent, "Chasing my brother and I around the world for five years, like a doggy after a bone. You don't think we'd do our homework on you?"

Before Steve can ask what Anton means by that, Steve's sat phone starts ringing. He checks, and the caller ID says, "Dad." Steve hasn't talked to his father in almost two weeks. Why would he be calling now?

Nodding his head, Anton says in a mean voice, "You should get that. You don't speak to your father nearly enough."

Steve's blood runs cold. There's no way Anton could've seen the caller ID from where he's sitting. That can only mean one thing: Anton has been expecting this call.

Connecting the call, Steve says into the mic, "Dad."

"Hey, champ," says Dad's voice, and Steve's even more on edge, because Steve has never heard those words out of his father's mouth in that order.

"You alright?" Steve asks carefully.

Steve's half-expecting to be wrong, or hoping that he's wrong, and he's actually surprised when Dad's next words aren't mundane. "Who are these people, Steve?"

Steve opens his mouth to answer, but a different voice – accented like Anton's – speaks. "Now I know where you get it from. You got a tough old man here." As Victor Hesse speaks, Steve gestures to Jimmy to get him paper and a pen. He scribbles off a note, demanding help be sent to his father's house. 

As a finale, Victor says, "I'm offering you a trade. Your father for my brother."

Steve's heart stops, but his training takes over and he thinks of how he can possibly buy more time. He decides to go with the party line and says, "Come on, Victor. You know how this works. We don't negotiate with terrorists."

"You kill him, you get nothing," Victor says, like it should be obvious, which it is. 

Steve doesn't want to lose his father. God knows he has little enough family as it is. But there is no way Steve is going to prioritize one life over the safety of his entire country. 

There's some talking in the background, and then Dad's voice comes back on the line. "Listen to me, champ."

Steve disregards the unfamiliar pet name and says, "Dad, I'm gonna get you out of there, alright? Don't you worry about it."

Voice breaking, Dad says, "I love you, son. I didn't say it enough."

_Didn't_. Past tense. Steve catches his breath, a quick mantra of _No, no, no_ running through his mind. 

Dad speaks again, "Whatever these people want, Steve, don't give it to them." Dad's voice fades and Steve hears him shouting in the background, "Don't you give it to them!"

A sickening thud silences Steve's father, and he finds himself grateful it's not the sound of a gunshot. "Dad? Dad!"

"No more games," Victor says. "I'm taking my brother now!"

Steve has less than a second to brace himself before the transport ahead of him takes fire and explodes. The next few minutes are a hail of bullets and trying desperately to keep Anton Hesse alive, just in case Steve needs to trade him. Just in case. 

But then Anton gets hold of a gun and Steve has no choice. He either has to shoot around the kevlar Anton's wearing, or allow Anton to kill him. There's no way Steve can save his father if he's dead, so he takes the shot. 

Anton goes down and Steve rushes forward, crying, "No, no, no!"

There's nothing Steve can do. The bullet has ripped open Anton's carotid, and he takes just seconds to bleed out. Steve backs up in horror. There's nothing he can do. There's no leverage left. Steve's looking at Anton Hesse's dead body and he might as well be looking at his father's body.

The phone rings again and Steve has no choice but to swallow his grief and answer it. 

"Put Anton on the phone," Victor says.

Steve doesn't know what to say. He can't think of any way to stall Victor. He's powerless.

"My brother's dead, isn't he?"

The silence says too much. Steve manages to say, "Victor, listen–"

"Isn't he?" Victor demands.

Steve's continued silence aches.

Darkly, Victor says, "Then so's your father."

"No!" Steve cries, listening to the scuffle on the other end of the line. 

There are several gunshots and then a different voice says, "Steve?"

Steve lets out a surprised breath. "Danny? Is-is my father dead?"

"No," Danny says with one of his relieved chuckles. "No, babe. He's alive, he's gonna be okay. I mean, I got winged a little bit, but…"

Steve furrows his brow and puts his free hand on his hip. "Danny! I thought you said working in Honolulu was going to be safer than Jersey."

Danny laughs, which must mean he's okay and not actually bleeding out on Dad's floor. "Says the guy in some classified location. I'm fine, Steve. Here, talk to your dad." 

"Hello, son," Dad's voice says and the last bit of worry eases out of Steve's chest.

"Dad," Steve says, taking a deep breath and letting it out again. "You're okay."

"Yeah, yeah. I'm okay." Dad chuckles and groans. His voice gets louder, like others are meant to hear him as he says, "I'm sure glad my son-in-law decided to drop by this morning!"

Steve chuckles, imagining the sour look Danny gets whenever Dad calls him "son-in-law". Then he asks, "Danny really okay, Dad?"

"Just a graze," Dad assures him. "Probably won't even need stitches. He's fine."

"Good," Steve says, his eyes growing heavy. "Good."

Steve wakes up, groggy, in a bright white room with no doors. His stomach rolls and he finds himself covered in scrapes and puncture wounds he doesn't remember getting. Steve's wedding ring is missing, and suddenly he can't remember what it looks like. He does wear a wedding ring, doesn't he? Steve remembers the wedding, over ten years ago now. Why wouldn't he be wearing his ring? Did somebody take it?

Steve gets to his feet, not too crazy about the way the room spins around him, and pounds on the wall. "Hey! Hey, let me out! Let me out of here! Hey!"

~*~

_June 2004_

Steve squints, his eyes sensitive to the light. Why has he never noticed how bright these lights are? Steve has sat in this office probably hundreds of times.

The door opens and Steve is automatically on his feet, arm up in a salute. Commander White salutes back and offers Steve a seat. "What's up, son? You're fresh off shore leave and can't wait to start complaining?"

"Uh, no," Steve says, sitting down again. "I just … Sir? Can I tell you something? Off the record, so to speak?"

"Off the record, huh?" Commander White leans back in his chair and nods. "Alright."

Steve clears his throat. He reminds himself that Joe White and his father served together. If there's anyone that can help Steve, it's him. He lets out a long breath and then says, "I got married."

"You got married?" Joe says with a delighted laugh. "While you were on the East Coast? I didn't know you had a girl up that way."

"I didn't– I _don't_." Steve stumbles over his words, not sure how to explain himself. "We met on Saturday." Steve winces and looks up at Joe.

"Oh, son." Joe's disappointment feels like a punch to the gut. Steve's not sure what he's going to do when he has to finally tell his father the news.

Before Steve can talk himself out of it, he confesses the bigger issue. "His name's Danny."

Joe's eyes go wide and he nods a few times before speaking. "I– I see." Looking away, Joe sighs. When he meets Steve's eyes again, he asks, "And you were in Boston, so…"

"The marriage is legal, yeah," Steve says, taking his copy of the license out of his pocket and unfolding it. He pushes it across the desk to Joe and rubs at his temple. "I wasn't really thinking…"

Joe takes the paper and reads it. "Daniel Williams. Was this supposed to be a joke? Steve?"

Thinking about how instantly infatuated Steve became just minutes after meeting Danny, Steve shakes his head. "No. No, I was serious about it." Steve thinks about the phone call he made to Danny after touching down in California. "Uh, still am."

"Okay," Joe says, nodding gruffly. He sets the license down on his desk and meets Steve's eyes for a moment. "Okay. As long as he's not expecting to live on base, we can make this work."

"How?" Steve asks, though he doesn't dare question Joe's willingness to help him stay in the Navy.

"Where does Daniel live?" Joe asks.

"New Jersey."

Joe nods, almost sagely, which Steve usually finds irritating, but it's a comfort today. "Is he alright with only seeing you two, maybe three times a year?"

Steve shakes his head. He hasn't really talked to Danny about it too much. "I don't know. I think so."

"Alright." Joe nods and points to the piece of paper. "Then all we have to do is amend the official record in Massachusetts to say Danielle instead of Daniel, and we're good."

"That's fraud," Steve points out. He doesn't even ask how Joe thinks they can pull off changing state records without getting caught.

Joe shrugs. "Do you want to stay in the Navy or not, Steve?"

Steve has sunk so much of the last two years of his life into becoming a SEAL, there's no way he can give it up now. "Yes," he tells Joe. "I want to stay."

The light in the corner catches Steve's eye again and he stares at it. When he blinks, he's sitting in a different room, strapped to a chair with an IV in his arm. 

Where did everything go? Where's Danny?

~*~

_December 2004_

Steve's taxi pulls up to the house and he takes a deep breath, letting it out slowly. From the front seat, the driver asks, "Been awhile since you been home, sailor?"

"In-laws," Steve says, nodding up at the house. "First time meeting them."

The driver whistles. "Good luck!" 

Steve hands his fare, plus a nice Christmas-appropriate tip, through to the driver and gets out, his only bag slung over his shoulder. Steve gets two steps onto the ice-slippery sidewalk before the taxi drives off, and there's no backing out now. 

The door opens before Steve gets to the front steps and Danny's standing there, a bright smile on his face. "There he is!"

"Hi!" Steve replies, returning the smile more brightly than he imagined he would. His heart flip-flops in his chest at the sight of Danny, and Steve doesn't even remember climbing up the steps, but then he's there, standing on the step below Danny, so they're eye-to-eye. "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas." Danny starts the kiss lips-first and then wraps his arms around Steve. As Steve wraps his arms around Danny in turn, hugging him tightly, he realizes that this feels more like home than anything Steve's had since he was a teenager. 

Loud whoops and whistles from inside the house distract Steve, and when he looks around Danny, he sees about fifteen faces peering out at them from the house. "Your family?"

"Uh, yeah," Danny says with a laugh, taking Steve's hand. "Come on. I'll introduce you to everyone."

The next few hours are a whirlwind of meeting Danny's family members, and being pinched and prodded by Danny's aunts, and listening to the stories Danny's brother and sisters tell about him, and then finally, Steve and Danny are back at Danny's apartment, alone.

Stripping off the remaining pieces of Steve's dress blues, Danny asks, "Of all the things we've talked about in the last six months, what do you want to do first?"

"Everything," Steve says with a laugh, catching Danny's mouth in a deep kiss. 

Danny smiles into the kiss, slipping his hands down the back of Steve's unzipped pants, palming Steve's ass. "Is that right? 'Cause I've got this _stark_ image in my head from that time we talked about you riding me, and I just _need_ to make that a reality."

"Oh, you _need_ that, huh?" Steve teases, but he's already straddling Danny's slim hips, sitting down on Danny's cock and running his hands up Danny's furry chest. 

A hard punch lands on Steve's cheekbone and the face in front of him is no longer Danny's. It's Wo Fat. "Yes, Steve. I need to know where my father is."

Steve turns his head to the side, looking for his husband. "Danny?"

"So, your _friend_ knows where my father is?" Wo Fat asks, his smile cruel and his fingers still clenched in an upraised fist.

"No," Steve says, shaking his head. The action makes him dizzy and he struggles to keep his focus on Wo Fat. "Danny doesn't have anything to do with this."

"I'll have my associates pay him a visit," Wo Fat says. "Bring him here to see you like this." Wo Fat chuckles, leaning closer and looking Steve directly in the eye. "Maybe bring that little girl of yours, too. What's her name? Grace?"

"Don't you touch her," Steve hisses, throwing his head forward. His skull connects with Wo Fat's face, and the blow makes Steve's vision go black.

When he blinks away the darkness, Steve is laying on a soft surface, looking up at an unfamiliar ceiling. Danny's silhouette moves into Steve's line of sight and Danny asks, "Hey, can I talk to you about something?"

"Sure," Steve replies, the unsettled feeling of being outside his body fading as he runs his hand down Danny's bare shoulder. "What's up?"

Danny's brow furrows and he looks away, out the frost-covered window and the Christmas morning light filtering through it. "Okay, I don't want you to freak out, so are you good? Relaxed?"

"Well, I _was_ ," Steve says, turning to face Danny at a better angle. The air in his bedroom is chilly, but the heavy blankets over their legs keep most of the heat in. "Just tell me, Danny."

"Okay." Danny sighs. "So, I was out Christmas shopping with my sister last week, and I ran into my ex."

"Rachel?" Steve asks. He's heard a little about Danny's previous relationship, especially in rant form. 

Danny nods. "Yeah. And she's, uh… Well, she's as big as a house." Danny winces and watches Steve.

It takes Steve a moment to realize Danny doesn't just mean Rachel put on weight. "She's pregnant?"

Nodding, Danny makes a face. "I'm sure it's mine. I mean, the way things ended, I know why she didn't tell me, but that doesn't mean I'm going to let her cut me out of my kid's life."

Steve sits up further, resting his elbows on his knees. "Wow. Okay."

"Okay?" Danny asks, dipping his head so he catches Steve's gaze. "I know you didn't sign up to marry a guy with a kid. If you–"

"Don't, Danny," Steve says, taking both of Danny's hands in his. "It's your kid. You have to be in its life. I'm not going to try to change that." He smiles, squeezing Danny's hands. "Besides, I like kids. Cute little people who're just learning stuff? What's not to like?"

"Yeah?" Danny grins and leans forward, kissing Steve soundly. "That's awesome."

Steve wakes up alone, half convinced there's a creased picture of Grace as a newborn tucked away in his wallet, rather than her fifth grade school picture. Steve can't get to his wallet to check. He's still strapped to a wooden chair, his vision fuzzy and his ears roaring.

~*~

_September 2010_

Steve gets off the plane at Hickam, putting his jacket back on after the long flight. He thanks the airmen who got him home so quickly and leaves the secure area, no luggage to speak of. Most of his personal items are either at Coranado or at Danny's place on Waolani. Steve has been there once since Danny moved from Jersey six months ago, and he's eager to first check on his father, and then get back home. 

Just outside the base, there's a familiar figure leaning against an unfamiliar car, wearing an unfamiliar floral-print shirt. Steve holds out his arms. "Really, Danny? You went with the Camaro?"

Danny laughs and steps into Steve's arms. Their hug is necessarily platonic, given the setting, but it feels good nonetheless. "Wait'll you drive it, babe," Danny says. "Feels better than sex."

Steve waves off the keys when Danny tries to hand them to him. It's been a long few days, and Steve hasn't had nearly enough sleep to be trusted with his husband's most prized possession. "I think maybe you've forgotten what sex feels like, Danny."

As they get in the car and close the doors, Danny winks and says, "I guess you'll have to remind me."

"Guess so," Steve replies, putting his hand on Danny's knee and leaving it there, appreciating the contact after three months since their last rendezvous in Hong Kong. "But I've gotta see my dad first."

"Oh, I understand." Danny drives away from the base, toward downtown Honolulu. His wedding ring flashes in the bright Hawaiian sun.

Steve looks down at his own hand, relieved that his ring is still there. "I think I had a dream I lost my ring," he tells Danny.

"If I check next time you're in the shower, that thing actually gonna be made of tin foil?" Danny asks with a laugh, which makes Steve roll his eyes fondly. 

"And what's with the shirt?" Steve asks, plucking at Danny's clothes. "I've never seen this one before."

"I'm 'embracing the Aloha spirit', as your dad likes to say." Danny flips on his lights and blows through a red light. Steve frowns at him, making Danny say, "What?"

It's not that Steve's jealous, exactly, but he can't help asking, "Just how much time have you been spending with my dad?"

Danny shrugs. "He's a cool guy. Plus, I didn't have many friends when I first moved to town."

Steve shakes his head, but he finds himself smiling. "I wish I would've been here to see that."

"No, you don't, babe," Danny says with a laugh. "I mean, there were some pretty embarrassing stories told. About you."

"Oh, my god." Steve groans, facing out the window, because he can't stand to look at Danny knowing he's probably heard that story about the camping trip. "I take it back!"

Steve's embarrassment has waned by the time they arrive at HPD a few minutes later. Steve looks up at the building and sighs. "Last time I was here," Steve tells Danny, "was just after my mom died."

"I'm sorry, Steve," Danny says, his hand a steady weight on Steve's shoulder. "C'mon. Your dad's just finishing up with the Captain."

Steve follows Danny to the Captain's office, and there, in the middle of his room, is Steve's father. "Dad," Steve says, rushing forward and pulling Dad into a tight embrace. "I thought I'd lost you."

"Your man did a good job protecting me," Dad says, a proud smile on his face as he and Steve break apart. "You picked a good one, Steve."

Beside them, Danny's smiling down at his shoes, all bashful and speechless for once. 

Captain Kelly takes that opportunity to introduce himself, and then Steve and Danny head home. On the way, Steve says, "I'm grateful you saved my dad, Danny."

"But?" Danny asks, blinking at Steve for a moment before turning his eyes back to the road. 

"I just wish you would've left Hesse alive," Steve confesses. "With him dead, there's no way I'll be able to find out who gave Victor the information about my transport. I won't know who's responsible for almost killing my Dad."

"Well," Danny says, gesticulating with both hands and somehow steering with his wrists. "When did you capture Anton?"

After doing the math and taking into account crossing the dateline, Steve says, "Six days ago."

"Ah, see?" Danny smiles. "Bad guy number two with the computer, guy who gave me this puppy," Danny points to his injured arm, "has been on the island at least a month, if the receipts in his wallet are anything to go by."

Steve thinks he knows where Danny's going with this line of thought, but doesn't take a guess. "Which means?"

Frowning, Danny explains. "Which _means_ they've been doing business, other than kidnapping fathers, on _my_ island."

" _Your_ island?" Steve asks with a delighted laugh. "You hated the idea of moving here!"

Danny shrugs. "It's not so bad. Grace is here, your dad is here, you grew up here. I don't know. It's good."

"Yeah, it's good," Steve replies, thinking about what Danny said. Victor Hesse, and presumably whoever he was working for, has been doing business out of Oahu. "I need to talk to my CO, tell him the terrorists we've been chasing might be right here in Hawaii."

"Yeah," Danny says, turning from Wyllie onto Waolani. " _Or_..."

"Or what?" Steve watches as Danny drives the last few blocks home. 

Danny squints into the sun. "There's been talk lately around HPD. Sounds like the governor wants to set up a state-level task force to go after these kinds of guys."

"So I should wait for some task force to be ready before getting to the bottom of this?" Steve turns in his seat to get a better look at Danny, who's pulling into his half of the duplex's driveway. 

Danny kills the engine and turns to face Steve. "No. I'm saying you could put your name in to run the task force. You know, start slowing down a little? Settling down?" Danny looks up at Steve with these eyes that look sad and hopeful at the same time.

Sighing, Steve asks, "It hasn't been that easy being married to me for the last six years, has it?"

Danny shakes his head, but says, "I'd marry you again in a heartbeat, Steve."

~*~

_January 2015_

"You're not going to kill me, are you?" Wo Fat asks, that enraging placid smile still on his face, despite the wounds Steve has put there. "Brother?"

Steve thinks about everything he's gone through in the last four years, and about how he can't let Danny find him dead, and he just ...

"You're not my brother," Steve hisses, and squeezes the trigger. 

Something plows across Steve's temple and then he's on the beach at home, sitting next to his dad. "I miss this view."

"Mmm," Dad replies, nodding with his eyes on the ocean. "I'm glad you're home, son."

Now that he's here, with his Dad and with his husband at their shared home two miles away, Steve's pretty sure he never wants to leave. He'll transfer into the reserves and just live his life for a little while. Make things right. "Me too, Dad."

Steve's shaking, Danny's voice muffled as he cries, "Steve? Steve, baby, come on!"

Steve blinks. "Danny?"

"Yeah," Danny says, gasping and pressing kisses to Steve's face. "I'm here, babe. I'm here."

"I lost my ring," Steve admits, lifting his left hand weakly to show Danny. 

"Your ring? Your _phone_?" Danny asks, wiping his eyes and smiling down at Steve. "We found your phone in your car."

A chill runs up Steve's spine and he still can't see clearly much further away than Danny's face. A horrible thought, like a nightmare, occurs to him. "Where's my dad? Danno, my dad? Where is he?"

Danny's face – confused, sad – says everything, but Steve still holds out hope until Danny whispers the truth. "Baby, your dad died four years ago. Alright?"

"Yeah," Steve says, though none of it is alright. Dad is dead. Victor Hesse killed him. Steve _abandoned_ Danny after they first got married. That's why he's not wearing a ring. Danny's not Steve's husband. Live-in boyfriend yes, but not husband. "Yeah."

Steve loses it, breaking into sobs and curling toward Danny, where Danny's strong arms reel Steve in and hold him close. Danny murmurs something, but Steve's crying too hard to make sense of it right now. 

Somebody presses gauze against the graze wound on Steve's temple and then Danny all but carries him to the ambulance. As they're driving toward the hospital, Steve grabs Danny's hand. "Hey, I have to ask you something."

"Anything," Danny says, his voice soft and fond. 

"Marry me?" Steve asks, wincing every time the ambulance goes over a bump. "Again?"

Danny laughs and throws his free hand up. "Steve, yes. I'm always gonna say yes."

~*~

_June 2015_

Taking a deep breath, Steve holds it for a moment and then lets it out slowly. He adjusts his tie, making sure it's just right. Turning his head this way and that as he looks into the mirror, Steve says, "I look a lot older than the last time I got married."

"How long ago was that?" Lou asks, standing more like a bodyguard in a tux than a groomsman. 

Steve says, "Awhile," and smiles at Lou. "Is it time yet?"

"Almost, big bro," Mary says, swinging her bouquet around. "You nervous?"

Steve looks at her, then Lou, then Jerry in turn. "No," he tells all of them with a smile. Suddenly a thought occurs to him. "Why? Do you think I should be?"

"This, says the man who can hold a conversation about sandwiches during a firefight without getting nervous," Lou says, rolling his eyes.

"I don't think you should be nervous," Jerry says with an earnest smile. "At this point, it's just a piece of paper, right?"

"Right," Steve says, telling himself he's being silly. "I mean, Danny and I have been together for almost five years."

"Living together for four," Mary points out. "It's time, boss. You gotta make an honest man out of Danny."

Nodding, Steve tells his friends, "Let's do this."

The others file out and Steve is left to himself for a moment. He knows it was just a dream brought on by the drugs Wo Fat was giving him, but part of Steve wishes he could still be in that place where his first marriage to Danny had been valid and Steve had _tried_ to make it work. Instead, in this reality Steve let his fear of losing the Navy overshadow his desire to be with Danny. Steve's not going to make a mistake like that again.

When the music starts, Steve walks toward the dais from the left, and immediately he sees Danny walking from the right, a subtle grin on Danny's face. Danny went with the straight tie, rather than the bow tie like Steve's wearing, and Steve smiles. It looks just right on Danny, and it reminds Steve of the first year they worked together. 

Steve's heart feels so full and so warm, he thinks it might burst, but that would be okay, because Steve is here, and he's marrying Danny, and Danny _loves him_.

As they reach the center at the same time, Steve holds out his hands and Danny takes them without hesitation. Kono, Chin, and Max are standing on Danny's side, smiling at them. Grace is sitting in the front row of seats next to Danny's parents, her flower basket in her lap. 

Standing in the center of the dais, his back to the ocean and facing the guests, with the back of Steve and Danny's house beyond them, is Kamekona. Steve made 100% sure Kamekona's internet minister certificate was legit before allowing him to preside over the wedding. Steve's not saddling Danny with illegitimate paperwork _again_.

"A lot more people witnessing this one," Steve says under his breath as he smiles out at all his and Danny's loved ones. 

"Yeah," Danny replies, squeezing Steve's hands. "Freaked out?"

"No," Steve insists quickly. "No. I'm good."

"Dearly beloved!" Kamekona cries, turning all eyes toward him. "We are gathered together today to join these two brothahs in holy matrimony."

Steve smirks at Kamekona's choice of words, while Danny frowns and raises an eyebrow, asking softly, "Brothers?"

"These two _men_ ," Kamekona amends with a short glare for Danny before his smile returns and he continues. "Steve and Danny are everyone's favorite odd-couple, and I think we can all agree that none of us is surprised to be here today."

The audience chuckles, as does Steve when Danny shrugs and nods. 

"Anyway, these two would like to recite their own vows, so take it away."

Danny and Kamekona both look at Steve expectantly, so Steve clears his throat and meets Danny's eyes. "I'm not sure if everyone knows this, but eleven years ago, today, I first asked you to marry me. We'd known each other less than twenty-four hours at that point, but I knew you were the one for me." Danny's eyes go shiny and Steve swallows, looking down at their joined hands so he can get through this. "I ended up doubting that feeling, and one of my biggest regrets is not marrying you for real all those years ago." 

Danny's hands squeeze Steve's, so Steve looks up. A bright, if tight, smile lights up Danny's face and he nods encouragingly.

"So, Danno," Steve smiles quickly at the nick name. "We've certainly taken the long way down the aisle, haven't we?" Steve waits for Danny to nod. "Now that we're here, I promise I'm never going to let myself doubt my feelings for you ever again. You're the best person I know, my best friend, my partner, and my home. I love you."

Danny sniffs, nodding and breaking one of his hands away from Steve's so he can brush a tear away from his cheek. "Jesus, Steve," Danny says with a low chuckle. "You giant, gooey marshmallow."

The bridal party around them chuckles, and Grace snorts, covering her mouth at the sound.

Danny gives his daughter a quick look, and then turns back to Steve. "I mean, what's not to like about the scenic route?" He shakes his head and takes a breath.

"Steven," Danny says, his tone more serious. "For a long time, I thought I was an idiot for letting you into my life not just once, but twice. You're stubborn, and a control freak, and you blunder into things without thinking them through, and you are a serious adrenaline junkie."

Steve raises his eyebrows, hoping Danny's getting to the point. 

" _But_ , you're also loyal. And brave. And smart. When you look at me, you make me feel like I'm the only person in the room." Danny smiles as he takes a shaky breath and let it out. "I'm glad I gave you that second chance."

Steve laughs, surprised when the noise that comes out is more watery than expected, his eyes starting to tear up too. 

"Anyway. I promise to spend the rest of my life loving you the best ways I know how, and giving you the extra chances you deserve." Danny nods then, his lips pressed together and outward, signaling he's done. 

"Alriiiiiight!" Kamekona says with a huge grin, shifting from foot to foot like a child on Christmas morning. "Alright, alright!" Addressing the audience, Kamekona asks, "Anyone got a problem with these two _haoles_ gettin' hitched?"

Steve looks out at the crowd, and notices two people standing all the way at the back, close to the house. One of them is Doris – Steve should've known she'd show up uninvited – and the other one … Steve blinks a few times, unsure of what he's seeing. The other figure looks like Dad, standing there with his hands in his pockets, a big, proud smile on his face.

Kamekona grabs Steve's attention, asking, "Who's got the rings?"

Chin hands Steve's ring to Danny, and Mary sets Danny's ring in Steve's hand, saying, "Don't screw this up, bro."

Steve almost asks her if she sees Dad, too, but then he and Danny are exchanging rings. They're _getting married_. Steve looks down at the ring on his hand and it feels familiar. It feels right. 

"By the power vested in me by the State of Hawaii," Kamekona says, with a smile like even he's surprised Hawaii ordained him, "I now pronounce you husband and husband. You may kiss the groom."

Steve faces Danny, smiling at him and leaning down to give Danny their first kiss as a married couple. It's a great kiss, slow and relatively chaste, but with purpose and the weight of the last eleven years. 

The crowd claps and cheers and when Steve looks past them, both Dad and Doris are gone. 

"Everything okay?" Danny asks softly.

Steve meets Danny's eyes and the joy that rushes through him is almost overwhelming. "Yeah, Danno. Everything's awesome."

"So, we gonna walk down this aisle, or what?" Danny asks, gesturing to where Grace has already started to spread flower petals, looking back at them with her gap-toothed smile.

Steve smiles at his husband and says, "It would be my pleasure."

**Author's Note:**

> And that's it folks! You can come visit me [on tumblr](http://pterawaters.tumblr.com/) if you want.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Nonverbal Communication](https://archiveofourown.org/works/3772288) by [pterawaters](https://archiveofourown.org/users/pterawaters/pseuds/pterawaters)




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